Full Moon Rage
by Dawning the Mask
Summary: (Adopted from Maskmaker88) On a normal night in Konoha, Naruto goes through an unusual and painful change, and is left as a Werewolf. After leaving the village to master his new abilities as a beast of the night, he returns to Konoha in hope of starting a pack and seeking out the perfect fight. He's thirsty for combat and can't wait to see what the Shinobi of Konoha are capable of.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: (I FINALLY convinced Maskmaker88 to let me adopt this story. Of course, he didn't know that I already had the first chapter done before he said yes, or that the second is almost done. Ah well, enjoy and criticize!)

The sound of labored breaths mixed with tiny feet pattering against stone echoed through the streets of Konoha as a small blonde child ran for dear life, faint shouts far behind him encouraging him to pick up his pace. Turning into an ally, he came to a screeching halt as he saw a dead end at the far back.

He decided that this was as good a hiding place as any, seeing as the men couldn't have seen him turn here. He hobbled over to the back of the ally and rested his back against the cold brick wall whose shadow would hopefully obscure him from the rest of the world, including his attackers.

While taking this moment of rest, the boy decided to contemplate as to why he was being chased in the first place. He was walking home from the ramen stand when he happened to pass a local bar. A few men were outside, passing a large bottle to one another and taking a swig. One of them looked at the boy with an expression that seemed to be a mix between confusion, dull surprise, and anger.

He shouted some insult at the boy, to which he was quick to respond with his own off comment about the man's age and weight. After that, he had to run as the man quickly finished the bottle, broke the bottom off against the bar wall and held it up threateningly while saying something about "gutting him inside out".

The boy didn't really understand why the people of the village disliked him so much; his only clue was that he was apparently a "monster" to be feared. He never really understood that either. He didn't have fangs or claws, and he certainly didn't have scales or fur like the monsters he read about in his storybooks.

He recalled a villager once whispering something about a demon while shooting him a distasteful glare that sent a shiver up his spine. But he wasn't a demon, he barely knew what that was, outside from references to the Nine Tailed Demon Fox, or Kyuubi no Kitsune. And he _certainly_ wasn't anything like that. He saw the artist drawn pictures of the beast. Some were different from others, one of which depicting it as a three headed beast that breathed fire and controlled the elements. Yeah, he _defiantly_ couldn't do anything like that.

So for the most part he just assumed it was because he was born on the same day the demon attacked. Not fair, but he could somewhat understanding disliking someone who gets to celebrate on a day in which hundreds had died. Though, he rarely celebrated his birthday as there were never any willing participants to celebrate with besides the village leader, the Hokage.

He smiled as the "Old Man" came up in his train of thought. He was one of the few people in the village who were kind towards him. He actually treated him li-

"There he is!"

The boy was broken from his thoughts as a loud, somewhat shaky voice slurred. He looked up to see the three men standing at the end of the ally, two of which brandishing makeshift weapons such as a broken broom handle and a shovel. The boy cursed for not paying attention to the entrance as the three made their slow, albeit faltered approach.

The one brandishing a broken sake bottle managed to stagger ahead of his companions, reddened eyes lazily fixated on the quivering form before him as he slurred, "Whasya gonna do now, eh brat?"

The boy wanted to step back in fear; however the cold brick wall behind him glued him to the spot to watch his attackers inching closer. He crouched into the corner, arms covering his face as he awaited pain to come.

Meanwhile, two figures stood overhead, silently watching the scene that unfolded before them. One of them took a moment to briefly look up to the position of the full moon that seemed almost unnaturally large tonight as it loomed over the village, before nudging the other figure. The two had to suppress letting themselves smile as the midnight hour was soon approaching, indicating something they had been waiting some time for.

Back in the ally, the boy was attempting to keep from crying as his assailants were but a few feet from his crouching form. He chanced a look at them, only to regret it as the lead man tossed his broken bottle at the boy. Thankfully, his inebriated state caused his aim to be off by at least a few feet, and the bottle shattered harmlessly against the wall, bits of glass scattering about the ground.

"Aw shit," cursed the man as he stumbled a bit to the left. "Now I gots ta use mah hands…" he held up two shaky, halfway clenched fists, seeming to try to keep from falling as he drew close to the boy. He reared one of his fists back only to fall on his backside with a loud "thud." His friends laughed at the spectacle, much to the man's chagrin.

The boy decided to take this opportunity to exit the ally, as the men were too busy picking each other up off the ground. He used the wall to spring forth and managed to duck under one of his assailants' weapon being haphazardly swung at him. He left the ally and made a mad dash for his home that was but a few blocks away. He couldn't help the confidant smirk that graced his lips as he could see his apartment in the distance, only to abruptly stop as he felt something within his stomach stir. It felt as if there was a whirlpool within his guts, slowly expanding and filling him with an overburdening sense of dread of things to come.

And then he felt it.

The boy lurched forward as his stomach felt like it had been kicked by a horse. He began to retch and heave as he heard a loud cracking in his ears, and his head began to spin and ach. The boy's knees buckled under him as the pain in his stomach intensified, forcing him to empty his ramen dinner onto the road, gagging as a few stray noodles slowly slid from his esophagus into the pool at his hands. His skin began to burn and itch like fire, and as he tried desperately to scratch it, he found his hands had become bloody and his fingernails had been ripped off.

"There he is," slurred someone from behind. The boy had been so focused on the unholy pain that wracked his entire body that he hadn't noticed the three men approaching him, one of which brandishing a bloody piece of glass which sliced into his palm.

"Hey… wasshe doin'?" asked one of the men as he stepped forward, half lidded eyes now more awake than before as loud cracking sounds seemed to be coming from the hunched over boy. He reached to the boy's raised shoulder to turn him around for a better view. However, he was stopped as the child quickly turned to face the men. Each man froze at the sight that met them.

Instead of the solid blue eyes they had grown to hate, two dark yellow eyes stared furiously towards the three assailants, slit pupils fixated on the bleeding hand of one of them. These were not the eyes of the boy they cursed and had previously sought to do bodily harm to; these were the eyes of a coldblooded, soulless predator staring hungrily at its prey and ready to pounce at a moment's notice. The boy let a small growl rumble in his throat, his spine arching down with a sickening crack as he tried to crawl forward.

After seeing his ears fold and stretch up the side of his head, the men looked at one another, silently agreeing on the correct course of action. Run like hell and never look back. Each man sprinted off from the boy, leaving him to whatever hellishness he was undergoing, one dropping a bloody piece of glass.

The boy let another growl escape his lips as he watched the men leave, though his bodily pain took him from his rage filled thoughts as he felt his knuckles crack and bend, and that angry growl became a pitiful whine. Looking down, the boy watched as tiny black claws slowly tore through the bloody tissue where his broken nails once were, curling slightly as they made their way to the surface. He was about to scream in pain as his muscles began to tear and stretch in unimaginable hellish pain, when he felt something small roll down his throat. After violently coughing and gagging on the offending object, he was surprised to see what it was when it fell onto the ground. It was a tooth. Before he could react, the boy felt, and watched, as more teeth began to fall out of his mouth, nary a drop of blood on a single one.

He felt around his mouth with his tongue. Nothing. If his eyes weren't already letting tears rool out from the pain, he would have started crying. As it was, he could only pray that the pain would end, as the burning itching sensation in his flesh intensified each second. Sadly, his prayers went unheeded as his gums suddenly started to ach, saliva and blood pouring from his mouth. The boy howled in pain as what felt like knives sliced out of his gums, forcing him to cough another few globs of blood and spit out.

He stopped his convulsing briefly when he felt and heard his nose crack. The boy watched on in utter horror as his jaw and nose stretched and snapped forward, stopping a few inches before his eyes. Suddenly, there was a loud ripping sound from behind. The boy looked to see what looked like his exposed spine protruding from his backside, reaching at least fourteen or so inches out. The bone was soon wrapped in pink muscle tissue, then flesh, as it took on the appearance of a tail.

For a moment, the pain subsided, outside from the itching and burning, but his muscles were no longer in severe pain and his bones had stopped popping and cracking; however, the unending stinging in his skin met its climax as his flesh began to feel as if it were on fire, when what looked like fur finally burst from his skin, wrapping him in its warmth. The boy let out a small whimper as his body finally felt at peace and the unbearable pain left him, allowing him to let out a few more dry heaves from the aftermath.

His peace was unfortunately interrupted as he saw two hulking figures land before him with nary a crack to the earth. He tried to stand to meet them, but found such an action became difficult and awkward, and he eventually chose to prop himself up with his arms.

"**Try not to move so much, Naruto-san. Your body needs time to adjust to the changes,"** spoke one of the figures in a gruff, deep voice.

The boy, or Naruto as he was known, looked at the two with a mixture of fright and confusion. **"Wh…what do yo- MY VOICE!"** Naruto brought his hands to his throat, only to stop when he felt what he could only describe as metal spikes digging into his neck. He looked to his hands, only to shout in surprise at what he saw. While they were somewhat normal in shape with five fingers, the hands themselves were anything _but_ normal. Thick black claws protruded from his fingers, each gleaming under the moonlight like tiny sharp gems. And his hands, scratch that, his whole _body_ was covered in a thick coat of dark yellow fur. He remembered the pain of it growing, but he had forgotten most of what happened to him when given the chance to rest.

"**Calm down,"** said the other figure, holding up its own furry hands. **"You've gone through a wonderful change, Naruto. You should see yourself now… you're the spitting image of him."** The figure stepped forward, revealing a creature that looked much like Naruto did now, albeit larger and taller. This creature however had a coat of black fur.

"**S-stay back!"** Naruto shouted, attempting to crawl away from the beast, though his legs refused to work properly.

The creature's lips twitched as if suppressing a laugh at the boy's attempts while it drew closer, large hand outstretched to pick him from the ground. Naruto tried to thrash and claw at the beast, trying anything to keep it away from him, but his movements were stopped when his back came to a large, furry wall. He looked up, the fear evident on his features as he saw the face of the other beast with brown fur, large white fangs shining in the pale moonlight smiling down at him mirthfully.

"**Now, why are you running from us like this, Naruto?"** asked the beast. **"You're going to hurt my feelings…"**

"**G-get away!"** Naruto made an attempt to swipe his new claws at the creature, only for his wrist to be effortlessly grabbed. He let out a yelp as he was raised from the ground to come snout to snout with the beast.

"**Naruto, we are not your enemies,"** it growled. **"We are here to hel-"** it was cut off as Naruto began to kick and slash with his free hand. The beast snarled when a set of claws raked across its face. **Ok, now I'm pissed!"** it reared its head back and slammed it into Naruto's skull with a powerful head butt, forcing the boy into unconsciousness.

"**Leena… was that **_**really**_ **necessary?"** asked the black furred beast in an annoyed tone.

The so called "Leena" gave her partner a menacing glare as she slung the unconscious Naruto over her shoulder, his arms dangling close to her tail. **"Oh fuck off Victor, you saw what he pulled,"** she huffed, indicating to the boy she held then rubbing her face. **"Besides, this way we can get him somewhere more secure for a little **_**heart to heart**_** conversation."**

Victor just let a tired sigh escape his maw as he turned to lead the way. **"You're impossible sometimes, you know that?"**

"**Yeah, well, you know you love me for it,"** she replied with a smile, nudging her partner.

_An hour later, in Naruto's apartment_

Naruto awoke with a jump, looking left and right for his assailants. After getting a good grasp on where he was, the now beast let out a content filled sigh. _'Just a dream,'_ he thought as he began to relax. Naruto went to wipe his brow when he froze at the sight of his hand. _'Not a dream, NOT A DREAM!'_ he thought as he stared disbelievingly at his clawed, furry hand.

As if to reinforce the fact that this was real, the two beasts from before came to his bedside, the brown one holding a small backpack and a black plastic bag. It looked at him with what he supposed was a smile as it said, **"Finally awake, Sleeping Beauty?"** it let out a small snigger before continuing. **"You were out for about an hour. Also, your place smells like shit mixed with ramen and more shit."**

"**Leena. Language,"** the other beast said in an irritated tone. It turned to face the frightened boy, who was now backed against the wall his bed was against. **"Naruto-san, do not be afraid. We are not here to harm you, we promise. Right **_**Leena**_**?"** He said it more as a command rather than a question.

Leena's ears lowered as she let out a sigh. **"Yes Victor,"** she said in a tone of obviously fake shame.

Victor nodded and returned his gaze to Naruto who by now was a little more relaxed, though his guard, if you could call holding your left hand a foot in front of your chest a guard, remained raised. The brown beast gave the boy a small smile, no doubt frightening him with his massive fangs. **"Now then, I'm sure you have questions, and we will answer any you have."**

Naruto looked between the two creatures, trying to figure out what possible hidden motives they may have, though he had no way of figuring out such things. He sure as hell didn't want to make any attempt to hold a conversation with them right now; he'd rather find an escape route.

"**Any questions."** The beast repeated.

Not wanting to make them angry again, Naruto tried to go along with the situation, for now. He sat up, albeit far from the two beasts. **"Um… what are you?"** he started.

Victor took this opportunity to sit down in an attempt to make the boy a little more comfortable. After all, there was nothing more distracting and unnerving than a hulking beast standing over you. He sat cross legged on the floor, bringing him to Naruto's eye level. **"We are Werewolves, or Lycanthropes if you want to be more "scientific","** he said, nudging Leena and indicating with his hand for her to copy him and sit. She did.

Naruto cocked his head at the words Victor used. **"Werewolves? Lyca-whats?"**

"**Lycanthropes,"** Victor corrected. **"Werewolves are beasts with the ability to take the form of a man, though some often think it is the other way around, in which a man becomes a wolf. However, most of us take on the form of a large half man half wolf. You may have noticed that you too are in the form of a Werewolf."**

Naruto looked down at himself and, regrettably, had to admit that he did indeed look exactly like the beasts before him, albeit smaller.

Victor continued, **"We are faster, stronger and more agile than most humans, and our senses are matched by none… save for one other race, but we don't need to get into that now."**

Naruto began intently examining his arm, twisting and turning it in order to inspect every crevice under the moonlight. He quickly slammed his fist sideways into his wall with a loud 'BOOM!'

Both Leena and Victor jumped at this as they hadn't expected such a reaction from the boy. Immediately after regaining herself, Leena stood and snarled at the destructive child. **"Gaki!"** she yelled, giving Naruto a swift smack to the back of the head. **"You could've broken the Kami damned wall! **_**Think**_** before you do something like that!"**

Victor stood to face Leena better and placed a hand on her shoulder, pressing down with a bit of force. **"Leena, sit down,"** he commanded. Thankfully, she listened. Victor returned his attention to Naruto (idly thinking how at this rate his neck would snap from the constant movement from looking to Leena then Naruto so many times) and said, **"Naruto, it is unwise to use your abilities so recklessly. Look what you've done to the wall."**

The boy looked to where he had slammed his fist, unable to see it before from the pain in his head courtesy of Leena, and felt his eyes widen as he saw what he had done. His fist had created a small, one foot long crater that had to have gone at least three inches deep. The white paint cracked and chipped from the wall, falling onto his bed. **"I…"** he couldn't believe his eyes. The strange thing is that he didn't even put all his strength into the hit. Sure he hit it hard, but he could have done a bit better, and the thought of what that would have done was somewhat disturbing.

"**You must be careful,"** Victor continued. **"Such noise may alert your neighbors…"**

Naruto nodded dumbly, still buzzing with shock at his own destructive capabilities. **"What do you want?"** he asked.

"**We have come to take you with us, of course."**

At this Naruto grew wary of the two, shuffling back further against his wall as he carefully kept his eyes fixated on Victor. **"What?"** he asked.

Victor did not react to the boy's movements, though he was watchful of the window that was on the other side of his bed. If Naruto managed to escape through there and onto the rooftops, the effort of catching him would be unwanted. _'Especially with so many shinobi using the rooftops as a form of transportation to witness us chasing him down,'_ he thought as he moved a little towards the window.

"**Yes, we are here to take you on a training trip,"** he said, inching a bit closer to Naruto's possible exit. **"We will be teaching you how to be a proper Lycan, and ninja. This has, of course, been approved by the Sandaime Hokage."**

_That_ got a clearer reaction from the boy as his feet slipped on his sheets and the back of his head hit the headboard of his bed with a loud 'BANG!'

Naruto ignored the pain in his head as he shot up and shouted, **"WHAT?!"**

Victor winced at the loudness of the boy's voice, sticking a pinky in his ear to try and sooth the shattered eardrum. **"I said that-"**

"**I KNOW WHAT YOU SAID!"** Naruto continued. **"Why the hell would the Old Man agree to let you two… **_**things**_** take me away?!"** at this point his breathing became laborious and unsteady, his eyes were so wide they could have popped from their sockets. He had trusted the "Old Man" for as long as he could remember, and these beasts claimed that he had willingly allowed them into the village to take him away. He couldn't, no, _wouldn't_ believe them, not for a _second_. **"Lies…"** he whispered.

Victor leaned forward a bit, not because he hadn't heard him, but so to try and understand him.

"**LIES!"** Naruto jumped up on his feet, his breathing pace quickened as he glared daggers at the black furred beast. He pointed an accusing, clawed finger at Victor and shouted, **"You're LYING! The Old Man wouldn't do something like this to me! He's never done anything to hurt me! He'd NEVER let you two… **_**things**_** take me! He'd never allo-"** as he opened his mouth at the "ah" sound in the word, Naruto was stopped when something was somewhat violently shoved into his mouth courtesy of Leena's hand.

Before he could do anything other than let his tongue press against the offending object, two furry hands positioned themselves above and below his open snout, then quickly slammed his snout shut and forcing him to bite into the object. He felt a warm liquid run down his throat, sending pricks up and down his spine at how it sled, leaving a trail wherever it went. He remembered once licking a copper coin, though why he couldn't remember, and the liquid tasted strangely similar. It was more salty than the copper, but the taste was close enough to make it come to mind. He couldn't help but find the liquid strangely pleasing on his palate as more and more gushed from the object between his jaws and down his throat. He happily swallowed the salty liquid, reveling in its texture and taste.

Then, something happened that made him frown. The liquid stopped coming. He opened his mouth, thankful that whatever was holding his snout shut was gone, and bit down. Immediately his mouth was filled with that amazing sensation which enticed him to continue chewing. The object, which he was certain was a piece of meat, had an odd texture. It was chewy, slimy, and almost fatty. It was like chewing on a very gristly chunk of pork. That aside, it was pure heaven. Everything that had previously concerned him, all his troubles and worries, all his anger, fear and sadness, gone. It was all replaced with the purest bliss he hadn't known since… ever. Such beauty, such unfathomable joy was almost unfitting of a child such as himself. He refused to let a single drop of the fluid contained within the meat dribble down his chin, such a thing would be a sin against this delicacy. Naruto had to hold himself from crying in sheer happiness as he finally swallowed the fatty meat, it's rich, exotic juices sliding down his throat and leaving small traces of their existence upon his tongue.

For a while, he just sat there, allowing the memory and traces of the experience to linger on as long as he could allow before opening his eyes. He was, to put it in a simple way, completely shocked at his surroundings. He was still in his room, yes, but he was now sitting back against his headboard on his bed, his two "guests" staring at him intently. The one known as Leena was leaning against the wall opposite of him while Victor was sitting at the end of his bed.

"**You done?"** Leena asked with clear irritation. **"You've been eating that heart for over a half hour. You're a regular coin-fuckin'-sure, you know that?"** a large, toothy grin then crossed her snout as she stood and patted herself off.

Naruto's mind at the moment was buzzing, partly because of the sensations that remained, but mostly because of what Leena said. _'A…a _heart_?'_ he thought. **"W-what kind of heart…?"**

At that, Leena's smile grew wicked as she answered, **"Why, a fresh human heart, right from the Konoha morgue, stitched up and filled with as much blood as we could drain."**

Were it not covered in a layer of fur, all the color in Naruto's face would have visibly disappeared. Eyes wide and mouth agape, Naurto swallowed a lump that had been growing in his throat ever since the word "heart" was mentioned. That meat, that wonderful, decedent, delectable piece of bliss was in actuality, a human heart. Naruto's head spun, his ears ached and his eyes glazed and throbbed as a sickening felling entered his stomach and brain. He leaned over his bed to throw up, when a furry hand quickly clasped his snout shut.

He looked up to see Leena giving him a stern look. **"Don't reject it Naruto,"** she said.** "It's only natural for you to enjoy it. I understand that you may have some issues with this, but just think of this, was it really THAT bad? Dose the fact that it was once a vital organ to a creature of which you previously took the form of change how it tasted? Tell me, if you knew what it was when I shoved it into your mouth, would you have spat it out?"**

Naruto moved back as Leena let his snout go and chose to use his wall as support again as his mind began to race. In all honesty, he couldn't see himself spitting it out. It was too damn good to waste it like that. But the fact that it was a HUMAN heart that caused such unbelievable contentment was what unsettled him. And yet, the more he thought about it, the less sense it began to make.

According to these two, he wasn't human, he was some sort of wolf…man…thing. And wolves have attacked and eaten people before, and he was apparently a Were_wolf_, so it sort makes sense. Then he realized something important. If he DID go with these creatures, he was likely guaranteed to enjoy the taste of human again.

He mumbled something under his breath, causing Leena to lean forward, a smile spreading on her lips. **"Pardon? Didn't catch that."**

Naruto once again mumbled something inaudible to most listeners, lowering his head.

"**You're gonna have to speak up gaki."**

"**I SAID I'LL GO!"** he finally said clearly, albeit loudly.

Leena's smile widened as she crumpled up the small black bag that had been used to transport the heart and headed for the door, Victor following. **"Then let's head out, your shit's packed, at least the shit that matters."**

Naruto shook his head at the two, not in a way as to disagree with them, but rather because he was having a hard time grasping the situation. He expected there to be a bit more drawn out conversation, arguing, or at the very least some time for him to say good bye to his living area. Instead, the two seemed almost eager to leave ASAP, though he wouldn't argue with them now.

"**A-alright,"** he said, hopping off his bed and following, or rather stumbling after them as he was still unused to his new form's feet. **"Where…are we going?"**

Victor didn't spare him a glance as he placed his hand on the boy's shoulder and made a sign with his other hand. **"We need to see Sarutobi first… Shunshin!"** and with that, they were gone.

Hokage Tower, Sarutobi's office

Sarutobi was currently taking something he rarely took considering his daily workload, a break. He was leaning back in his chair, enjoying the taste of the tobacco smoke from his pipe. It wasn't often he could say that his paperwork was finished. All the mission requests were read over and signed, all the forms concerning the graduating Genin of this year were stamped and filed, and all the mission reports were completed and placed in their proper places.

His relaxation was, unfortunately, cut short when three figures appeared in front of him. He did not jump or startle, as he had expected this, though he did let out a discomforted sigh as he put his pipe out and leaned forward. "I see you have convinced him," he said in an unusually calm tone considering his company.

Naruto had to use Victor for support as his head slowly stopped spinning from the Shunshin. When his mind was back to normal, he managed to give the Hokage a somewhat sad look. **"Old Man… you knew they'd come here? That I'd turn into… **_**this**_**?"**

Sarutobi returned Naruto's expression with a slightly saddened one of his own as he stood, leaning back to remove a small kink in his spine. "Naruto," he spoke calmly. "I can't tell you how sorry I am that I did not tell you of this before, but I felt that only these two," he gave Victor and Leena a quick glance before continuing, "were better suited to explain this to you. It is not my place to introduce you to your own species, which is their job. That is also the reason they have come here, if I am not mistaken?"

Victor nodded and bowed quickly. **"Of course. We will do all we can to prepare him, Hokage-sama."**

Sarutobi sat back in his chair and gave Naruto a once over. _'He looks just like his father…'_ He shook his head and smiled at the boy. "Good, Naruto, I trust you are happy with this?"

Naruto was prepared to continue to ask the Hokage questions, but was stopped when Victor placed a hand on his. He looked up to the Lycan who shook his head. **"Yes…"** he replied quietly.

Sarutobi smiled a bit more and returned his gaze to the two Werewolves that would be teaching his surrogate grandson. "And can I assume you will bring him home safely, and on time?"

Both Werewolves nodded, though it was Victor once more to give a verbal response. **"Of course, Hokage-sama."**

Sarutobi then opened his top left drawer on his desk and fished through it, grumbling under his breath about 'too much paper' before retrieving a set of papers held together by a staple. He quickly signed several sheets before handing them to Victor. "Everything seems to be in order, Naruto, I expect you to listen to these two and treat them with respect."

"**I will…"**


	2. Chapter 2

In the village of Konoha at a small ramen stand with a large sign reading 'Ichiraku Ramen' on the front, a loud 'SLUUUUUURRRRRRRRP!'-ing sound could be heard by people within a half kilometer radius. Within the small booth sat a young, blonde teen, happily slurping on the many noodles that littered his massive bowl. Many passersby would give him abhorred looks as he went unscathed by any comments made on his manners. _'I'm hungry damnit!'_ he thought to himself as he continued to attack the bowl of broth, meat and noodles.

The old man behind the counter approached the teen with a wide grin that matched his customer's. "At the rate you're going at kid, I'll be able to make an early retirement!" he said with a chuckle.

The teen just gave him a grunt as a reply before placing his empty bowl onto the staggering mountain of bowls that rested next to him, grabbing the new one that the old man had placed down. He managed to let a guttural "Thank you" out between his next large slurp.

"If you keep eating like this Naruto," a voice said next to him, "you'll get as large as an Akamichi within the hour!" beyond the pile of empty bowls, in a seat one stool down from the teen sat a brown haired woman with a large grin. She appeared to be a ninja, if her garb was any indication, as she wore a sleeveless black shirt under a red vest. She had on a pair of black shinobi sandals and matching pants, the usual ninja garb as seen by anyone in the village. What was odd though, was that she wore no visible Hitai-ate.

Next to her sat a black haired man who, when looked at, one would think he didn't belong at a ramen stand, rather, he looked like he belonged at a fine dining restaurant. He wore a black dress shirt, pants, socks and jacket. Around his neck was a silver tie which went with the silver handkerchief in his jacket's breast pocket. He had on a pair of shiny two toned shoes and a black fedora. Like the woman, he too wore no visible Hitai-ate, though his wardrobe obviously hadn't hinted that he was a ninja.

Naruto quickly finished his current bowl of ramen and grabbed the next, pausing in order to answer. "I haven't been here in ten years," he said. "I have a lot of food to eat to make up for my absence." With that said, he quickly dove into his new bowl with gusto.

The woman rolled her eyes at the glutinous boy. "What did we tell you about healthy choices?" she asked with an obvious tone of annoyance.

Naruto didn't stop his eating, instead choosing to use one handed sign language to reply, which looked very odd for an outside observer. _'I'll work it off.'_

"That's not the point," she replied. "You shouldn't be taking in that much sodium in a single sitting, that crap retains water that you need ya little shit. So the next one is your last. Understood?" she emphasized her growing annoyance by ending the last word with a growl.

Naruto paused for a moment before nodding at his companion, and then returned his attention to his almost finished bowl. While he would have enjoyed more, and he certainly knew he could eat more, he was _very_ hesitant to over aggravate his female guardian. So it was with some trepidation that he finished his current and next bowl quickly so as to reduce her aggravation.

After paying the happy old man, Naruto hopped off his stool to stretch both his legs and stomach. Now that he was in clear view of passersby, some of the civilians couldn't help but notice a strange contrast he held to his company when it came to his garb. It wasn't fancy, nor was it the clothes one would expect a ninja to wear. He just had a vomit green tunic, brown sack pants and brown sandals. He almost looked like a normal civilian, save for five identical items. On his neck, wrists, and ankles were black leather bands with small silver studs. If one observed them however, one would see that each stud had an intricate seal engraved upon it.

"So," he said, turning to his guardians. "When do we meet the Old Man?"

His female companion let out another growl as she stood, fist clenching and unclenching as she was prepared to strike his insubordination. "What was that, gaki?"

Naruto stiffened a bit before correcting himself, "I-I mean… when do we meet Sarutobi-sama?" he asked with obvious anxiousness.

The woman eyed him for a moment before flashing him a small grin. "That's more like it," she said. "And we're _supposed_ to meet him in less than ten minutes, so I'd suggest moving your sluggish ass."

"Leena," The older male of the group spoke up. His voice sounded much younger than his body suggested. "Let's keep the language to a minimum. And Naruto," he turned to the younger male with a stern look. "I suggest not mentioning Sarutobi-sama in public, as his name would no doubt attract unwanted attention. A total of seve- eighteen people have stared at us ever since you mentioned –nineteen– his name."

Naruto scratched the back f his head and gave a nervous laugh. "That's why I referred to him by that old nickname."

The other male shook his head. "That is also –twenty– inappropriate. You _should_ have –twenty one– just asked when our meeting was, without giving context –twenty two– to what it pertained. You just gave away information, which is a large 'DO NOT' as a ninja… twenty three."

Naruto nodded, opting to refrain from arguing further lest he incur another verbal assault from the older male. "May we go then?" he simply asked.

The male stopped his counting and nodded, disappearing in a swirl of leaves, copied by his two companions.

Hokage Tower

Sarutobi was once again "enjoying" one of the "perks" of the title of Hokage. Paperwork. Sadly, this was the time of year when his workload increased, what with the Genin exams tomorrow, followed by the Chunin exams in a few months. It was quite hectic to have to sift through each form concerning different diplomats requesting entrance into the village during the exams, villages sending out a specific number of shinobi, and the travel arrangements for the Kazekage who planned to visit this year.

His work was interrupted when three forms appeared in his peripheral vision, though he did not startle or jump as he had, like many years ago, expected this. After stamping another form with a great big red "APPROVED", the Hokage finally looked up from his work and stood to meet his visitors.

"Victor, Leena, Naruto," he addressed them, walking around his desk to greet them properly. "It's good to see you after all this time."

The older male known as "Victor" bowed with his companions. "It is good to see you once more, Hokage-sama," he rose with a smile. "It has been too long since our last meeting. I do hope things are running smoothly concerning… recent events."

"Ah, you mean the "Great Reveal"?" Sarutobi asked with a small chuckle. "I received quite a few letters from some of the Kages, some of which none too subtly asking if I was untrustworthy for withholding such information, but it seems things have calmed down quite a bit. I've yet to hear any complaints from other villages about having Lycanthropes living and working amongst them. I've gotten word that Iwa has already employed some as ninja, which I must admit is surprising considering their previous detest towards the idea."

Indeed, it had barely been over two years since the existence of a race of beings known as "Lycanthropes" or "Werewolves" was made public knowledge. Naturally, most were either frightened, or felt threatened by the news; however, seeing as the "leader" of the race was quite the well spoken diplomat, as well as having support from the most powerful ninja village within the Elemental countries, things were able to smooth out between Lycans and humans. Even to the point where almost every country had a local "Pack" either as a sign of trust or as extra muscle.

"That's good to hear," Victor said. "I would hate to think that there would be too much ill will towards your village because of us."

The Hokage simply waved the concern off. "It is fine."

There was a moment of awkward silence before Naruto decided to break it. "So… has the academe been teaching the new generation about us?"

Sarutobi looked at the teen and smiled. _'He's certainly grown… a little short for his age though…'_ "Yes," he nodded. "Though due to how early it was, I believe the newest generation has only been given a short two weeks to study your kind."

Naruto kept himself from making a face at the old man, instead opting to calmly say, "That's not enough time to really learn about our culture or habits… I can see some awkward situations for my team and I in the near future due to this…"

"I'm sure they'll adjust," Sarutobi said. "Now, on to more important matters, namely your training. I take it you have learned much during your absence?"

The teen nodded, though allowed his mentors to answer for him. "We've taught him everything he needs to know and more in order to get set up," Leena said, happy to _finally_ be able to talk. "His attitude was the most difficult to work with, but we've thankfully taught him to change it properly, right, Naruto?"

Said boy remained calm under his superior's harsh gaze, though he was sweating bullets in his mind, as he answered, "Yes, Sobou-sensei," he quickly bowed.

"We've also managed to aid him with the… "Chakra Problem" his father suffered from," Victor said.

Sarutobi's eyes widened slightly at that bit of information. "You mean he knows about his father?"

"We felt it would help inspire him to improve himself," Victor looked down at the thankfully quiet Naruto. "And he's sworn to keep his father's identity a secret, right Naruto?"

Just like with Leena, Naruto bowed with a "Yes, Kokoro-sensei." before returning to his activity of remaining as quiet as possible, his eyes fixed on the Hokage.

"Now," Victor said, returning his gaze to Sarutobi. "I believe Naruto is meant to take the Genin exam tomorrow, correct?" when he received a nod from the Hokage, he continued. "Good, we've made sure to teach him everything he will need as a ninja, as well as quite a few more things, considering his position. We've made sure to grade his progress and left our final assessments on his abilities." With that said, both Victor and Leena took a pair of envelopes from their respective pockets and handed them to the Hokage. "We've summarized his last training session, and have graded him on it appropriately."

Sarutobi nodded once more. "Very good, I look forward to hearing about your progress Naruto. And I also look forward to hearing of the many friends you'll make here with the people of this village, including your fellow shinobi."

Naruto didn't need a translator to understand what that last sentence really meant. _'Treat the humans of this village, especially your fellow shinobi, with respect,'_ he thought. "Of course, Hokage-sama," Naruto said with a bow.

The Hokage was somewhat surprised that the boy hadn't referred to him as "Jiji" or "Old Man." Though he supposed it was an effect of his upbringing under people as strict as Victor and Leena. He had to marvel at the work they had done. No more was the boy jumping around making rude comments or giving inappropriate nicknames to almost every person he met. Rather, before him stood a calm, albeit obviously energy filled teen, showing proper respect before his superiors and elders. He could only wonder what they had done for his ninja training. "Very well," he said. "I will need you to sign a few forms, especially the forms required for the deed."

Naruto cocked his head to the side at the last part. "Deed? What deed?"

Sarutobi looked over to Victor with mild surprise. "You mean you didn't tell him?"

"Tell me what?"

"Well," Victor cut in. "As you know, many of the Packs have chosen to take up public residence near, or within some hidden villages. Leena and I decided to purchase you a small plot of land to help start off your Pack. It's nothing too big, a few acres of forest next to training ground four along with a small building. We _did_ use a bit of money from your father's old savings; we obviously wouldn't pay for _all_ of it."

Naruto was both surprised, and a bit angry. Angry because he felt he should have expected that from Victor, the bastard held onto a Ryo like a life line at times; and of course surprised because he hadn't expected something like this on his return. He had planned to raise some money as a ninja to purchase a small acre of land, or a few buildings that were located in a more run down part of the village. But now he had the land he would need for his Pack. So it was with mountainous amounts of gratitude that he bowed to Victor, Leena, and the Hokage for this great gift. "Thank you very much. I swear that my Pack will be a thing of great pride for Konoha and its inhabitance."

Sarutobi smiled at the teen and walked back to his desk, sitting in his chair and lacing his fingers together, elbows on the desk as he relaxed. "I'm glad to hear that Naruto," he smiled. He then proceeded to his lowest left desk drawer and pulled out a small stack of forms messily held together by a paperclip.

Naruto held back a sigh of irritation as he walked to the desk, picked up a spare pen, and began signing the numerous papers. "So has anything interesting happened while I was gone?" he asked idly.

Sarutobi hummed in thought as he tried to recall any specifically significant events in the past eight years. "Well, I'm sure you heard of the Uchiha Massacre," he had to shiver at the memory of that day. All those bodies both child and elder, broken, mangled, torn by one of their own in one night. Then of course there was the horror of when one of the ANBU had claimed he found a survivor, only to see a young boy weeping over the twisted bodies of his parents.

Naruto however seemed to be quite calm over the mention of the incident, as he just nodded quietly while scribbling his name for the third time on the same piece of paper. "I heard about that, very sad. Anything else?"

Sarutobi shook his head of his former thoughts before he once again took on a thoughtful expression. "I received a visit from Gary a month ago."

At that, Naruto paused for a moment before continuing his writing. "Gary huh?" he asked quietly. "How's he been since I last saw him?"

"He seems fine; we discussed the idea of having Vampires reveal themselves as well. So far, from what he's told me, his Clan is comfortable with either remaining hidden or revealing themselves, but it seems the Tremer and Ventrue are quite opposed. As well, it appears Markus is still undecided, and as you know his is the final decision for his race."

Naruto nodded as he finished at least half the stack. "The Nosferatu have always been a neutral Clan, Markus could tell them that they'd have to wear dunce caps on missions for a year, and they'd just shrug and accept." He almost laughed at the idea. "They're like the Aburames, only undead."

Sarutobi let out a small chuckle. The boy was right, as the two Clans were similar in the aspect of emotional reaction. Though, where an Aburame would remain placid and barely responsive, a single Nosferatu would have enough insanity, quirks and/or personality to fill a nut house. Their leader was an especially strange one with the way he dressed and acted.

The Hokage was brought out of his musings when a stack of paper was dropped before him. "Done," said Naruto as he moved his wrist about. "I even finished the admittance forms. Is there anything else I should know? Mainly about the Genin exams?"

"They're being held tomorrow," Sarutobi replied. "And the instructors and students have been informed of your late enrollment for the exams. Actually, if I'm not mistaken, the academe should be letting out soon. Would you like to perhaps see some of your fellow students?"

Naruto stepped back and shook his head. "No, it won't really do much good now. Only a handful of students pass the exam, if I was informed correctly. I won't have enough time to properly analyze each one, nor gain any sort of relationship considering I may not see most of them in a year. Besides," at this point Naruto was getting ready to open the door, though remained facing the Hokage. "I'll have time to get a good tour of the academy tomorrow. If that is all?"

Sarutobi nodded, allowing him to leave. "Leena, Victor," said Lycans faced him. "I would like to speak with you two for a little, if that is alright?"

Victor took a seat in one of the chairs facing the desk, Leena shortly copying him. "Of course."

"And Naruto, seeing as you read through the paperwork, can I assume you know where your new home is?"

"Yes, Hokage-sama," Naruto bowed.

"Good," Sarutobi sat back in his seat to relax, opening his middle drawer and took out a rather long pipe. "I'll have my secretary give you the keys. Good day."

With that, Naruto left the room and its occupants to their privet conversations.

Sarutobi waited for a few minutes until he was more than sure that the boy was out of earshot. And considering his hearing, he'd have to have gained quite a distance for them to talk without concern of him hearing. He leaned forward, lacing his fingers as he moved to a more serious demeanor. "I assume things were normal during his trip?"

Victor picked up on the meaning of the question immediately. _'You mean, were there any abnormalities concerning the seal and its contents.'_ He thought to himself. "Things were kept normal, he knows, as it is his right; however, he did mention a dream in which the inhabitant spoke with him."

The Hokage raised his eyebrows at that. If the Fox was capable of speaking with the boy, it couldn't bode well for his psyche. "Yet you say things were normal…"

"They were," Victor continued. "He told us immediately after waking up. Apparently it asked him a few questions, strange things like what his favorite food was, what he wants to do when he grows up, what he looks for in an ally. Then it offered him the use of its chakra. I assume this was because it believed Naruto would make a rash decision, being only seven at the time."

"And what happened?"

"Well, Naruto woke up and spoke with us about it. We told him both the dangers and advantages of using demonic chakra, and that he'd have to wait at least a few years or so to make a well thought out decision on the matter. He has not said anything of it since then."

Sarutobi lit his pipe, as he felt he needed the addicting tobacco to sooth his sudden stress. He went through numerous possibilities, outcomes and factors as to what the teen would have done. Obviously if the Fox contacted him once, it would have done so again. If there was one thing he knew about demons, it was that they were persistent bastards. He finally broke the silence between them after a few calming drags from his pipe. "Did you ever notice a dramatic change in his personality, chakra and or power?"

Both of them mulled it over, though Victor chose to voice his information first. "Not that I know of. His personality change was gradual, and he never became overly angry at many of the things that occurred that would invoke sever anger. He would get angry if Leena taunted him, but it was more of annoyed than wrathful."

Leena, seeing that her companion was finished, chose to speak herself. "About his power… we believe you should know something about him. First, from what I've observed, he's had no use of demonic chakra. But we did learn something about his… "Ability" that you might find both concerning and interesting."

Sarutobi let a small smoke ring escape his lips before leaning back a little. "Go on…"

Naruto's new home

Naruto couldn't keep the frown that made its way onto his face when he set eyes on his new home. Sure he was happy with the size; he could build a few decent sized buildings and homes in the area and still have some extra room. And sure he enjoyed that it already had a small dojo built in the center. But to put it in a way Leena would say: "The place was a fucking dump."

Trash and withered leaves nearly covered the entire area, and what grass he _could_ see was yellow and burnt or turned out to be a small weed. There was a large rock in front of his dojo that was crumbling, spreading tiny stones and gravel onto and over his trashy lawn. The trees were dead, some fallen over, the rest blackened and thin like in horror novels. There was a pond, but the water was a sickly brown and let off large bubbles that released a noxious gas.

Then there was the dojo itself. What wood wasn't broken was either on its way to breaking or moldy. The sliding paper doors were missing, as was a good portion of the roof. Upon looking inside, Naruto could see that the area was a _little_ better, albeit messy and full of small animals. It seemed that there was an area of the dojo that was used as a living area, which was where he headed. But then there was that smell. He had picked it up halfway here, but it was a lot more potent inside. It seemed to come from beyond a door, one of the few that weren't missing or broken. After breaking the thing down –it's not like he was going to use the moldy thing anyway – Naruto finally realized what it was. There, in the far corner of the room was a small sleeping mat. It was green, though it had a large brown stain in the center, and there was a small slit in the mat in the middle of the stain.

'_So someone died here… that would explain why the place was cheaper than I expected. Judging from the blood stain and the slit, it seems the previous occupant was stabbed all the way through. The large bloodstain suggests the weapon cut an artery; it probably went right through the heart actually, considering the position. It most likely went through the aorta, causing instant death, seeing there's no sign of the person moving at all, otherwise the stain would be shaped slightly differently. But why would the mat be left here, or anything non personal like the pots and pans? The mat serves as evidence… maybe this was an assassination from within the village, taken on by a Konoha shinobi. Perhaps the person did something that threatened the village? Perhaps a spy acting as a martial arts instructor? Bah, I'm thinking too much about this. The point is, I'll need to clean not just the outside but the inside as well. This will take a while to do… damnit.'_

He was cut from his thoughts when he heard a voice outside. "This place is a fucking dump." He had to smile at the voice, and the choice of words. He almost wanted to say "Called it." after getting through the garbage and avoiding the pieces of floor that he knew would give if he were to step on them, Naruto emerged from his home to see both Leena and Victor standing a few feet from the dojo, the former curiously inspecting the bolder in front of his dojo.

"No place like home," Naruto said as he descended the half broken stairs. "What do you think?"

Leena gave him an incredulous look before returning her gaze to the bolder. "I direct you to my first statement on this place."

"It looks… bucolic," Victor said with obvious fake enthusiasm. "A little… or a _lot_ of rat poison, some hard work, a bit of polish, this place should look… rustic."

"Thanks," Naruto said, rolling his eyes. "At least I'll have something to do when I'm not on missions."

"That is _if_ you pass your Genin exam," Victor quickly corrected. However, his somewhat serious demeanor was brought down when Leena slung an arm around his neck that felt as if it were going to crush him with the force she put into it.

"Oh lighten up. You know, by saying shit like that you're admitting that you and me are terrible teachers, right?"

Victor sighed in discontent. "First, it's "You and I" not "You and me." Second, I was merely keeping him from becoming overzealo-mff." He was stopped when his female companion pressed her lips to his rather forcefully.

Leena pulled away and smiled at Victor. "You talk too much."

"Ah!" Naruto said, turning his head and mimicking scrubbing his arms in a panic. "The disgust! It won't wash off!"

At her student's words Leena growled. "You had no problem when you saw other couples kiss."

"With you two it's different," Naruto said, still refusing to look his guardians in the eyes. "With you two it's weird, so keep that stuff to a minimal."

"I'll do what I want with my mate, gak-"

"Leena," Victor finally decided to speak up and cut the banter. "I have told you that public displays of affection are unwise, as we are currently in a state of awkward peace with the mortals. As Pack Leaders, we must remain dignified and strong before those around us if they are to take us seriously as a race. Thus, showing such displays of affection shows signs of weakness to another being, as well as obvious favoritism towards said being. We cannot act that way before any humans."

Leena unlatched her arm from her mate and had to wonder how he could talk so much, especially since he seemed to barely take in a breath during that entire speech. "But there are no humans around; can't we let our hair down?"

Victor merely shook his head. "No. I will not chance the possibility that anyone could be watching or listening to us. While such ideas may seem paranoid-"

"Or insane," Naruto whispered.

"Being paranoid is what helped stop Uchiha Madura from destroying Konoha. Had the first not been suspicious of the man to an almost questionable degree, he would have not discovered his intentions." Victor quickly straightened his attire, removing the wrinkles Leena's arm added. "Now, moving on to a much more important subject than paranoia, Leena and I have a surprise, or rather surprises, for you."

Naruto refrained from perking up like a pup, though his eyes didn't hide the new found excitement. _'Last time they gave me a surprise, I got to attend a feast with three other Packs and ate a cave full of meat!'_ Naruto had to keep himself from salivating at the memory of the feast. Not only was the food good, but the Lycans were unbelievingly fun with how they passed jokes around, played some strange games with their food, and talked casually to complete strangers. He was brought out of his fond memories when he noticed Leena and Victor holding two packages. Leena pressed hers out and smiled at her surrogate son. "I got this for _when_ you pass the Genin exams and start your life as a ninja."

Naruto smiled at his guardian before bringing his attention to the heavy, wide package. Without a second's thought, he formed a small set of claws on his fingers and tore the box open. Upon opening it, the teen could only stare wide eyed at the gift. It was a set of leather armor he had set his eyes upon when he was twelve while passing through the capital of Tsuchi no Kuni.

First was the sleeveless vest. Its leather had to be at least an inch thick and was hard enough to protect from most blunt attacks and a few bladed attacks. It was fireproof, to a degree; it couldn't stand up against something like an Amaterasu or a high ranked Katon technique, but it could handle anything below an A rank fire jutsu. Thankfully, it didn't make noise if rubbed together thanks to Iwa's odd understanding of clothing material. One of the best features was that if ripped or cut, the material could be fixed, though it required concentrating a _lot_ of chakra on the afflicted area.

The best feature however, was a tiny seal sewn into the inside of the vest. It was similar to the Akamichi seal that allowed their clothing to change with the person's size; however, while the Akamichi seal was meant for the members of the family that turned into giants, the seal for the vest only allowed a certain amount of growth before becoming too tight. It was a simple looking vest; it was dark brown, almost black. It had quite a few hidden pockets, and went from his neck to just above the waist.

Next were the pants. They included all the features of the vest, including the expanding seal. They reached from his waist to his ankles. Lastly, there was a pair of fingerless leather gloves that rested at the cuffs of the pants. The whole set was _made_ for a Werewolf specializing in stealth or needed to move about quickly. The only problem was that it was ungodly expensive, going well into the million Ryo count.

Naruto looked at the armor, then to his guardians. "I…" he refused to get teary eyed over something like this, so he paused to contain himself. "I thought you said it was too expensive?"

Leena smiled warmly, rather than her normal cheeky grin and said, "I said _you_ couldn't buy it, I didn't say _I_ couldn't. You deserve a good set of armor; and while that set isn't exactly eye pleasing, it's practical and durable."

Naruto couldn't help the wide grin that stretched across his face as he took the set out of the box and began observing it carefully. Sure it wasn't fancy looking, nor was it meant to be for someone who planned to fight up close with a sword wielder, but in Naruto's eyes, it was perfect. "Thank you Kaa-san…"

Leena flinched at the name. He had called her that before, once during training, and she made it clear that he was not to ever call her that in public. But hearing it now sounded… warming. "Heh, don't go getting all teary eyed on me gaki," she said, coughing in order to contain her new found joy towards her surrogate son.

Then Naruto brought his gaze to the ever placid Victor who was awkwardly holding out a rectangular box. "I would… suggest containing any of these… unbecoming emotions for the moment," he said. _'And don't you _dare_ call me Tou-san again…'_

Naruto grabbed the box and, like with his armor's packaging, tore it open with vigor. Upon opening it, Naruto had to stop himself from falling on his ass from the shock. Resting in the box were two sheathed katana. He removed the weapons from the box and carefully observed the two sheathes in which the blades remained harmless. One was as black as the sky above them, the other as white as the moon that hovered within the sky. They were made of a fine iron that was forged to keep from reflecting much light and had multiple seals engraved upon the bottoms. The seals, from what he could tell with his low knowledge of the subject, looked to be used to simply keep the sheaths from breaking too easily, though he could tell that with enough abuse they'd break like twigs. Just below the area where the hilt of the blades met the sheath, there were Kanji signs. On the black one was the kanji for 'Claw' or otherwise known as 'Hana.' The white one held the kanji for 'Fang' or 'Tsumi.'

Naruto carefully removed the Hana from its sheath, not at all surprised to see the blade itself was darker than the sheath it was held in. The blade was smooth and its tip looked almost like it curled. The handle was wrapped in black leather, and the guard was made of fine steel, shaped like three spikes or 'claws' attached to one another in a yin-yang fashion. The blade itself was made of a type of metal that Naruto couldn't pronounce, though he knew it was reliable. It was stronger than most well crafted blades, possibly rivaling the weakest of the seven great swords from Kiri, though it wasn't unbreakable. Like the sheaths, enough force and strength behind a few good strikes would make the metal break. Plus, it was ungodly heavy, weighing at least a hundred pounds unsheathed.

Then he removed Tsumi. Unlike Hana -or any katana for that matter- Tsumi had no smooth blade made to slice finely into flesh, bone and cartilage with relative ease. It had a jagged, serrated edge like a saw, though the mini blades were longer and narrower than a saw's, reaching at least two centimeters before the blade collar, to half a centimeter at the tip. To make the blade even more of an opposite of its sibling, Tsumi was a few tints paler than the sheath that held it. It too was made from the same metal as Hana, though its guard was different. The guard was steel, and was shaped as a circle of spikes, or fangs facing the blade.

Both blades were magnificent, shining brightly in the moonlight. Naruto couldn't help inspecting the small seals on the blades themselves, though he already knew what they did, and it only made him smile all the more. "Victor…" he said, idly twisting the blades this way and that so to make sure they were real. "These look like Hana and Tsumi…"

"That's because they _are_ Hana and Tsumi. Do you really think I would give you some cheap replicas?" Victor asked, his tone almost suggested he felt insulted.

The teen looked up to his father figure with obvious disbelief in his features. "But these are _Pack Artifacts_; they don't even belong to your Pack, or Leena's. How on earth did you obtain them? Last I heard, they were in the possession of-"

"Let's just say that my diplomatic skills and powers of persuasion should not be unappreciated," Victor answered. "I believe that as a new Pack, you should have your own Artifacts, and I could think of nothing better than Hana and Tsumi." His smile however dropped for a second as he stepped closer to Naruto and said sternly, almost threateningly, "But because these are so important, I am _trusting_ you to use them wisely and not break them. If they _do shatter_… just remember that bone breaks easier than steel."

Naruto nodded, hiding the chill that ran up his spine at how frightening Victor could be sometimes. He quickly sheathed the blades and placed the straps across his chest so the blades would rest against his back in an 'X' shape. "I'll protect them with my life!" he said in a somewhat mocking tone, giving the older Lycan an all too serious salute.

Victor kept from rolling his eyes at the teen's antics. "Anyway, not to bring down the mood-"

"Too late," both Leena and Naruto said in unison, both wearing equally mirthful grins.

"_But_," Victor continued, an obvious air of annoyance in his tone. "Leena and I must head out. I need to see to the caravan routs that can be altered to come close to my Pack Den, and see that the negotiations between Kumo and The Second's Pack for traveling permits. Then there's the release forms fr-"

"I think he gets that we're going to be busy," Leena interrupted. She pat Naruto on the head, smiling as she said, "We're gonna miss you gaki."

He hadn't realized he was frowning until he had to lift it to smile at the two as they prepared to head out. "Sure… I'll miss you too."

"Train hard, study well, and…try to clean this place up," Victor said.

Naruto smiled more and nodded. And with that, the two disappeared in a swirl of leaves. He stood still for a few moments, letting the situation sink in. for the first time in years, he was alone. Sure that would change once he was put onto a Genin team, but he couldn't remove the niggling feeling at the back of his mind that seemed to invoke… depression. "Well," he whispered to himself, turning to face his new home. "Guess I'll get some sleep." He approached his dojo, but stopped when he saw a small raven flying over head. It carefully landed on his roof, and immediately flew away in a flurry of feathers as the ceiling collapsed under its small weight. Naruto meanwhile, sighed at the condition of his home and rubbed the back of his head, idly thinking, _'I sure got my work cut out for me… if only I could be everywhere at once… but only Victor and his Pack are that fast… oh well, time to sleep.'_

Naruto tired rubbed his eyes and yawned, walking up the steps to his home to get some well needed sleep, but stopped when his foot went through the third step and took in his whole leg. "Fuck," he grumbled.

Morning, 4:45 AM

Naruto's internal clock caused him to awaken early in the morning, much to his displeasure. Not that he didn't mind waking up by himself instead of the bucket of cold water Leena would use, but because of her "tactful" waking methods, the teen found that he had now developed an internal clock that woke him up everyday at least fifteen minutes before five, the time Leena chose to wake him up at. He could _try_ to fall back asleep, but his internal clock had no snooze button, and even if he found a way to shut it off, the tiny niggling feeling that she might sneak into his house and help him "relive a fond memory" kept him from getting another wink.

So it was with deep exasperation that Naruto crawled off of his bloodstained mat, and groggily made his way to the kitchen/dining room of his dojo. It was a small place and, through some miracle, the cupboards seemed to escape most of the grasp of father time unlike most of the area since they seemed slightly well kept and finished, albeit dusty. There was a square on the floor against a corner that was a few tints paler than the rest of the yellowed floor that he supposed where a fridge used to be.

There was a dining table, though two of its legs were broken, causing the table to look like some sort of ramp. There were no chairs, though from the scrapes on the floor area around the table, Naruto guessed there used to be. Walking over to the sink, he turned the rusted nozzle, hoping there was some water; however, the tap choked and coughed, and there was a sickening gurgling noise in the wall before a small splash of brown liquid spattered into the sink and slowly slithered down the drain.

Naruto shrugged his shoulders, seeing no point to remain in the dilapidated building any longer and left with his armor and blades underarm. He stepped outside to meet the still dark, though thankfully lightening sky and took in a breath of fresh air. He placed his weapons on the porch and quickly slipped into his armor.

He placed Hana and Tsumi in their 'X' shape on his back and began his morning exorcize. It wasn't as intense as Leena's routine of running ten square miles, doing two hundred and fifty pushups and sit ups and lifting an ungodly amount of weight up a mountain. His muscles would heal rather quickly, but it sadly also removed some of the progress he made with each workout, which aggravated him beyond all belief. Now he could do lighter exorcizes that would hopefully allow him to keep his progress during healing.

After using some of the dead trees as practice targets for Hana and Tsumi - killing two birds with one stone by ridding his home of the trees, and giving most of his body a good exorcize to help prepare for the exams he expected to be quite difficult - Naruto headed towards the academe. He made sure to stop by the bath house on his way, as he understood entering a classroom full of tired to-be ninja while wearing the stench of sweat wouldn't make for a good first impression.

The academe itself was impressive, its yard was optimal for physical activity, and the classrooms were shaped so all seats faced the speaker at the front. There was even a gym with targets, practice dummies and obstacle courses.

The classroom he was meant to take his written test was built like the others, though unlike some of them, this one had occupants. He didn't take the time to study each of them, as it would be awkward standing in the doorway for a few minutes while eyeing people. He did at least see what he believed to be an Inuzuka, if the messy untamed hair, face paint and small white canine laying on the desk were any indicators. He also took notice of a group of women arguing. From what he could make of it, they were disputing over… who would sit next to "Sasuke?" _'Odd conversation piece,'_ he thought. Naruto considered taking the seat just to see the looks on the faces of Sasuke's fan club, but he knew better than to alienate himself from a good portion of his classmates on his first day. So he opted to sit next to a boy he was genially interested in, namely the young Inuzuka sitting in the back. "Hey," Naruto said, lazily raising a hand in greeting.

The Inuzuka looked at him like he had spoken in another language before sniffing at the air. "You the Werewolf?" he asked.

'_I suppose tact isn't well known to the Inuzuka,'_ Naruto thought. "Yeah, and you're an Inuzuka, right? I mean I figured you were what with the dog and all…"

The other boy eyed Naruto for a few moments before shrugging. "Yeah, that usually tips people off. I'm Kiba," he looked down at his white dog and scratched its ear. "This is Akamaru, my dog partner." He stopped petting Akamaru, causing the pup to let out a soft whine as he turned to face Naruto. "So, you're a Werewolf? What's with the collar and wrist bands?"

"My name's Naruto, the collar and bands are for… decoration, and I thought I already answered that question," he replied, taking a seat next to Kiba.

"Yeah, but you don't look like what I thought Werewolves looked like in human form."

"Oh? What was I supposed to look like?"

Kiba shrugged and rested his elbow on the desk, lazily holding his head up with his hand. "Bigger?"

That comment caused Naruto to twitch. "Hey, I'm tall enough," he grumbled.

Kiba gave a mischievous grin as he realized he had hit a nerve. "Stand up," he said.

"What?"

"Stand up," he repeated, hopping from his seat. "Let's see if you're taller than me."

'_Challenge accepted,'_ Naruto thought as he stood, only to balk at the realization that he was, in fact, at least four inches shorter than Kiba. He briefly thought of sitting back down in hope of saving himself the embarrassment, but the Inuzuka was already wearing that damned shit eating grin like he won the lottery.

"Well well, would you look at that?"

"Shut up."

"What is it, three inches? Four?"

"Shut up."

"You know what makes this sweeter?"

"Shut up!"

"I'm one of the youngest in class."

Naruto fought everything not to club Kiba with a chair or other object within his reach. It wasn't his fault he was a late bloomer… at the age of sixteen. "Hey, I'm due for a growth spurt any day now!"

"Uh-huh, yeah, sure, whatever you say. And I'm gonna pledge my eternal love for Uchiha over there."

'_So _that's_ the Uchiha,'_ Naruto thought, trying to see the dark haired teen beyond the wave of women trying to sit next to him. _'He doesn't look like much, but I wonder how he's done considering his circumstances.'_ Shrugging, and hopefully ending the argument, Naruto returned his attention to Kiba, who was looking at the Uchiha with what looked like mild distain.

"Man, I don't get how that prick gets every girl in the class swooning over him like that. He doesn't even have to _work_ for it, they just go for him. I don't get women."

Again, Naruto just shrugged and tried to change subjects. "So, what's there to do around here?"

Kiba raised an eyebrow at the question, then smiled as he said, "At the school, anything between jack and shit. In town though… well, there's a few nice, cheap places to eat like the food stands in the market district, or the Barbeque restaurant. There's the training grounds, can't remember how many there are, but they're nice enough to hang around in. Oh, and there's the hot springs," Kiba's grin grew more wicked as he leaned forward to whisper, "I hear there's a hole somewhere between the male and female baths that you can see through to the other bath."

Naruto returned the grin; he was going to like it here.

Before they could continue their conversation, the door to the classroom slid open and the room fell silent as a man with brown hair tied into a ponytail and a scar running across his face, wearing a Chunin vest entered the classroom with a silver haired man carrying a large stack of papers. _'Obviously the teacher,'_ Naruto thought as he turned his chair towards the chalkboard.

"Good morning everyone," said the brown haired man.

"Good morning Iruka-sensei," everyone but Naruto said. "Good morning Mizuke-sensei."

Iruka looked directly at Naruto and smiled. "As we said yesterday, we have a late comer. Would you please come down and introduce yourself, please?"

Naruto shrugged and stood up, walking down the small steps towards the chalk board and gave Iruka a fake smile. He carefully wrote his name on the board, and turned to face the class. "My name is Naruto Uzumaki, it is nice to meet you all. I look forward to getting to know everyone and working with them on missions." He gave a short bow before returning to his seat.

"Kind of formal, don't you think?" Kiba whispered.

The other boy shrugged at him and replied. "It's not like I'm going to have time to know _everyone_ here. After this, most of us will be busy working."

"As you all know," Iruka began, ceasing the conversation between Naruto and Kiba. "Today's a special day for everyone here. Today you will receive the chance to walk out of the academe doors with a Konoha Hitai-ate tied around your head, proud of the knowledge you've gained here to prepare you for the life of a ninja. I've seen so many of you grow both physically and mentally over the years, and I'm proud to know I've taught you everything you'll need to be successful. I, and Mizuke, wish each of you the best of luck in the exams, and hope to see you doing your best as ninja." He turned to Mizuke and nodded.

The silver haired man began passing the sheets out to the students as he announced, "Please sit five feet apart so as to prevent unwanted eyes from your work." At which the room was filled with the irritating sound of chair legs scraping against wooden floors.

Naruto and Kiba both pressed their hands to their ears in hope to block out the horrid noise, the former suppressing the need to growl angrily. _'What the fuck!'_ he thought. After sweet silence finally came to the room, Naruto relaxed and began examining his test. It was all pretty basic stuff. _'Village history, proper use of Ninjutsu and Genjutsu, team formations… seems kind of simple…'_ he shrugged and began writing.

Just as he had thought, the test had been very simple, and from what he could tell off the looks other students gave, they thought so as well. Some questions would stump him, like the one asking what Summoning Jutsu the Sandaime Hokage was famous for and what hand formations were involved in a simple Katon Jutsu. After writing down how to properly use the Bunshin in combat, which was silly since no ninja would fall for a regular Bunshin, Naruto placed his pencil down and waited. He noticed a few students had finished before him, students like the Uchiha and the pink haired girl that had been fawning over him earlier and who, coincidentally, happened to be sitting next to him. _'Maybe people want to sit next to him to copy off his work?'_ Naruto entertained the thought that there was an ulterior motive the women in the class had for wanting to sit next to the Uchiha. It would be rather amusing, and frightening, if they all turned out to be manipulative liars that faked love for specific people to gain something from them, but that was just Victor's paranoia rubbing off on Naruto.

"Pencils down," called Iruka, nodding to Mizuke to get him to retrieve the tests.

"Maaaan," Kiba whined. "That was harder than I thought. How'd you do?"

Naruto looked away from the Uchiha and the pink girl to look at Kiba. He shrugged as he said, "Eh, it was pretty basic. I think the answers were sort of obvious. Besides, the written part shouldn't be too important." He knew if Victor heard him say that he'd receive a swift hand to the back of his head. "The written portion is probably used to make sure we understand the basic knowledge, the physical portion is what really counts."

"Yeah," Kiba sighed with some relief. "I just hope my mom doesn't grill me for screwing up on the written part."

Naruto gave his friend a smile as he stood to stretch. "I'm sure you did fine," he reassured, watching Mizuki take his and Kiba's papers. "I just can't wait for the sparring match."

The other boy gave Naruto a confused look. "Uh… they don't do that anymore."

Naruto paused mid stretch, looking over the classroom while asking, "What?"

"Yeah," the other continued boredly. "They stopped doing that a few years back. Apparently some kid killed his sparring partner, so they quit letting us fight each other at graduation. We still spar in the first years," he looked over to the stoic boy in the corner whom he and Naruto had been discussing earlier and shot a glare his way. "I had to go up against Sasuke, and he kicked my ass pretty hard, the guy's kinda hardcore like that. Thing is, we were using plastic kunai in the fights, and after he tossed me to the ground, he "stabbed" me several times. It was pretty fucked up."

Naruto brought his gaze back to the Uchiha across the room and nearly jumped out of his skin when he saw he was staring back at him a little too intently for his comfort. It took Kiba waving his hand in front of his face to break the staring contest they seemed to have gotten into, and when Naruto finally blinked, the Uchiha had turned to look outside. "Yeah, he looks like a buzz kill. If I'm lucky, I'll get some teammates who can relax."

"Maybe they'll put us on a team together," Kiba said with a grin. "We could raise all kinds of hell, am I right?" his grin widened to show off a set of slightly large canines, which Naruto mirrored as he agreed.

"We'd get into some serious shit, but I guess that's all part of the fun. Ever run through the forest with a Werewolf in the dead of night? It's pretty fun, especially when the full moon is only a few nights away, that's when we get really wild."

"Oh?" Kiba perked up at that and leaned in closer to whisper.

"Not like that, dumbass," Naruto refrained from barking in laughter as he realized that he made it sound like Werewolves were like animals in heat under the full moon. "You ever meet a female Werewolf under the full moon, the last thing you'd want is to get down and dirty. I'm not saying some wouldn't be up for it," he recalled a specifically… interesting female Lycan who had thing for trees who had made him an offer. While it would be natural for a boy his age to jump at something like that, she was too damn scary for him to consider it. "I'd advise against such a course of action."

"Eh," the Inuzuka shrugged, standing to stretch his legs out. "I tend to turn most things people say into some sort of joke."

"That's pretty smart," Naruto said. "It demoralizes your enemies if they see you joking and acting like a fight is fun, and it can even boost the morale of your allies. I actually do the same thing in battle, and it's worked a few times." He laughed as a memory came to him. "There was this group of mercenaries hired by my sensei to attack me, it was part of my training to be on my guard at all times. One of them managed to get in close and shoved a tanto through my left lung and made this face when I got up to keep fighting." By now Naruto had to pause to hold in his laughter as the man's face appeared in his mind. "I couldn't stop laughing after that. The whole battle was one sided, since I couldn't concentrate while laughing. After they ran a katana through me, they ran off saying I was a demon. I think I sat there for about five minutes laughing until my wounds healed up."

Kiba had to admit that the idea of someone laughing uncontrollably through an entire fight was both hilarious and frightening depending on who you were. "So you can take a sword to the lung?" he asked. He knew he was changing subjects rather bluntly, but he had become generally interested in the damage a Werewolf could take.

"It hurt like hell," Naruto admitted. He pointed to a spot on his chest covered by his armor. "And it left a pretty bad scare that took year or so to fade. I guess he could have killed me if he ripped my brain out… though one of my sensei claims she had her head separated from her body for three days and managed to survive, but I think she was just bullshitting me. Anyway," now it was his turn to change subjects. He didn't really want to talk about himself all that much. "Since they removed the final exam spar, what do we do for our physical portion?"

"I hear they just get you to perform some basic Jutsu, since they've seen how well our aim is and how we fight during the school years." He sat back down and leaned back as he tried to remember something his sister told him. "My sister says they used to have to understand at least one elemental Jutsu along with a non Bunshin clone."

"None of you know your elements?" Naruto had expected the exams to be less intense than they were in his dad's time, but he at least expected they'd teach them how to use some elemental Jutsu! "You're shitting me, right?" the other teen shook his head and Naruto almost wanted to scream. _'I've been itching for a fight from a Konoha shinobi ever since I can remember.'_

"Actually," Kiba looked over to the Uchiha once more. "I think Sasuke knows some Katon Jutsu."

'_I guess it makes sense that an Uchiha would know Fire Release… maybe I can get a sparring match with him after all this…'_

"Alright, class," Iruka stood up from his desk and handed Mizuke a pile of marked sheets. "Mizuke will hand back your tests, then we'll get ready for the physical portion of the exams."

Naruto sat back down in his seat and patiently waited for his test to be returned while the teen next to him seemed to be praying to Kami to let him pass. As soon as their sheets were placed in front of them, the two boys flipped them over and scanned them for their marks. _'Seventy five percent,'_ Naruto read. _'Well, how the hell was I supposed to know you're not supposed to throw kunai at a bush if it suddenly rustles?! And why the hell do I need to know how much water can be held by a three by three foot tarp?!'_

"Yes!" Kiba exclaimed, an action that earned him a series of glares/strange looks from the other occupants of the classroom. He leaned over to look at Naruto's work and barked with laughter.

The other teen looked at Kiba with a mixture of annoyance and curiosity before looking at the Inuzuka's test. "Seventy _six_ percent?!" he nearly fall backwards from the shock. "How the hell did you score higher than me?"

Kiba kept on laughing as he shrugged. "I donno, but I guessed most of the questions."

Naruto was just about ready attack the other boy if he kept it up. "Alright, smart ass," he growled. "How about a sparring match after we get our Hitai-ates?"

The other teen stopped laughing long enough to make eye contact with Naruto and could have sworn he saw his eyes flash yellow. "Yeah," he nodded, leaning back and kicking his feet up. "Sounds like fun, when and where?"

"Outside my dojo at seven."

Kiba stopped grinning and took on a more confused expression. "You have a dojo?" he asked.

"Of sorts… it's next to training ground four, now can you make it?"

The other boy shrugged. "Eh, I'll see."

"Alright," Iruka once more brought the class' attention back to him as he and Mizuki stood, the latter moving to open the classroom door. "We'll be starting the physical portion of the exam. Students will come one at a time to the classroom across the hall, once finished with their examination, they will be informed as to whether or not they have passed and will be given their Hitai-ate upon passing. Afterwards, the student will come back here and announce who is going to be next and so on. First up… Aburame Shino." A tall boy with prickly brown hair stood up quietly and followed the teachers out the classroom.

Seeing as they were going in alphabetical order based off last names, Naruto Uzumaki assumed he'd be sitting in the classroom for some time. "Well, this is gonna take some time," he sighed, leaning back to look at the ceiling. "Wake me up when someone calls my name." his nap was, however, halted when he felt Kiba tap his shoulder. "What?" he returned to a normal sitting position, ready to complain that the Inuzuka shouldn't have kept him from a few more sweet minutes of sleep, when he noticed they were not alone. Next to him stood the Sasuke, who seemed to be looking him over like a specimen. "Can I… help you?

"You're the Werewolf," he stated plainly. It was at this moment that Naruto took notice of the sets of eyes staring at him and Sasuke, namely everyone in the class.

"You figure that out on your own?" Naruto asked smarmily.

Sasuke ignored the comment and continued. "I heard your kind can shatter trees with your raw strength."

"Yeah," Naruto grinned. "And we piss acid and shit thunder." That got a few sniggers from some students, including Kiba. "There a point to these statements? Because I was kind of busy getting some sleep."

"I'd like to see how good you are," Sasuke replied.

Naruto had to suppress jumping at the chance to say yes, as he didn't want to lose his "cool" in front of the others. "I'm still not hearing the point."

"I'd like to fight you after I get my Hitai-ate."

It was hard not to agree to it, after all, Naruto would kill to have a good challenging fight against the last Uchiha of Konoha, especially since he was the only one in the class besides Naruto to know elemental Jutsu; however, he knew he'd have to wait. He already had plans with Kiba, and he wasn't one to flake out on a fight. Still… it was pretty damn tempting. "Sorry, I've got a sparring match with Kiba today. Maybe some other time, huh?"

Sasuke broke eye contact with Naruto to look at the boy next to him. Kiba reacted to being stared at the same way most people would in the class, by trying not to meet eyes with the Uchiha. "He's not that strong, cancel it."

'_Ok,'_ Naruto mentally growled. _'This guy's pissing me off quite a bit.'_ He finally stood to meet Sasuke, doing his best to ignore the fact that he was a bit shorter than the Uchiha. "I'm fine, thanks, now could you please stop staring at me like that, it's kind of weird."

The Uchiha continued staring at Naruto for a while. He only ended it when the class door slid open and Shino pointed to a large, brown haired boy whom Naruto assumed to be an Akamichi. Once eye contact between them was broken, Sasuke tucked his hands in his pockets and walked back to his desk. "Sure, whatever," he called back.

Naruto finally relaxed and sat back down. "That guy's a prick," he whispered. With no more interruptions, he returned to his leaning back position and got some much desired sleep.

When he was eventually woken up by Kiba, he was tempted to ask for five more minutes. Once the other boy actually managed to get him out of his seat, he wished Naruto good luck as he made his way to the other classroom. The other room itself was much barer compared to the other classroom. There were only two desks at the far end, one which Iruka and Mizuki sat at with a series of papers no doubt meant for marking, and the other held several Konoha Hitai-ates. He closed the door behind him and bowed to the two teachers. "Hello, Iruka-sensei, Mizuki-sensei."

The other two men nodded at him and Iruka spoke up. "Good Morning, Naruto-san, how are you finding the village thus far?"

Naruto rose from his bow and smiled. "Well," he began. "It's certainly big, I don't know how anyone can get around in this place without getting lost." _'Let's just get this exam over with, please?'_ he thought.

Iruka let out a soft chuckle at the remark and nodded. "Yes, it certainly can be a lot to take in. Anyway, we've had time to look over the notes made by your senseis, and we're pleased to see that you've managed to understand the basics and beyond. As for this part of the examination, we'll need you to perform a Bunshin Jutsu, we'll need to see about two clones."

Naruto kept from sighing at the request. It wasn't that he couldn't perform a Bunshin, he could, but he was hoping for something a bit more challenging. _'I guess things get less difficult for every generation,' _he thought morosely. "Alright, one second," he said, moving his hands up in preparation. _'Ram… snake… tiger.'_ The metal studs on his collar, wristbands and ankle braces let of a light blue glow as he focused. **"Bunshin no Jutsu!"** He felt a shiver go through him as he felt two mirage versions of him left his body to stand at his sides.

"Very good," Mizuki said. He and Iruka looked at their notes and began jotting things down. "Alright, Mr. Uzumaki, we're happy to say you've passed. Grab a Hitai-ate on the table and inform Yamanaka Ino that she is up."

The teen nearly fell over from shock at that. "That's it?"

Iruka and Mizuki nodded while the former answered, "Yes, you have what it takes to be a ninja, congratulations, you are now a Genin."

It took some time for everything to fully register with Naruto that he had passed in such a simple way. "But," he couldn't think of anything polite to say in protest. Sure, he had a few ideas of what he'd _like_ to say, like, "Are you fucking kidding me?!" or, "You can't possibly be serious!" but it wouldn't bode well for him if he said anything against it. So with a dejected sigh, he nodded and walked to the table. He didn't even think about which one to grab, he just dropped his hand on the desk and grasped at the first bit of cloth he felt. "Thank you very much," he drawled as he walked outside the room. Once he made it back into the other classroom, he looked up at the students. "Ino Yamanaka." A girl with a blonde ponytail and dark purple clothing walked past him as he ascended the stairs to his seat. Naruto fell into his chair and slumped down to hide himself.

"Shit man," Kiba said in concern. "You failed?"

Naruto didn't have the strength to snap at the idea that he would fail at something so simple. Instead, he just shook his head and placed a red Hitai-ate on the desk in front of him."

"Huh… then what's got you so down?"

He sighed once more and looked at his new friend with half lidded eyes. "I don't know man," he said. "I just… my senseis always told me stories of how the ninjas of Konohagakure were the best of the best, rivaled only by the other five hidden villages. I was sorta hoping I'd find some challenge here, you know? Like every ninja here could go toe-to-toe with me and give me a good fight, or even an ass whopping with their sheer power. I'm not saying everyone graduating is weak… it's just… well, the Bunshin no Jutsu is so easy and shitty for a final examination Jutsu."

Kiba nodded as he listened, then patted Naruto on the head reassuringly. "Don't worry, man, I'll give you an ass whopping later on, I'm one of the top Taijutsu users in the school."

That got Naruto to at least smile a bit. "Yeah, now I can't wait for seven."

The door to the class opened once more and instead of the one student, both Iruka and Mizuki entered the room as well. The former of the two looked the class over before smiling. "Well, it seems you've all managed to pass with flying colors! I can't tell you how proud I am. It'll take us a week to assign you to your Jonin senseis. In the mean time, I'd suggest getting some well deserved rest. I look forward to seeing you all again soon. Class dismissed."

The classroom was quickly emptied as the students headed to their respective homes to show their new headbands to their families. Naruto opted to sit at the swing set that hung from a tree a few yards from the schoolhouse. Eventually, the loud and bustling students cleared off, leaving him with the calming silence of the schoolyard after class. His calm sit down was short lived, as a familiar silver haired teacher stood next to Naruto. "Mizuke-sensei?"

The older man looked down at Naruto and asked, "You didn't really seem to like the physical portion of the exams, any reason why?"

Naruto shrugged and let himself relax more into the seat. "I guess I just expected more than a simple Bunshin Jutsu."

Mizuke offered an understanding smile. "Yeah, I know what you mean. They were pretty easy in my day too. That's why I took the extra credit assignment after I got my Hitai-ate."

"Extra credit assignment?" Naruto perked up a bit. "There's another test you can take after passing?"

The other man's smile widened a bit. "Let me tell you about the scroll of seals."

Author's Note: Alright, that should hold you over until I can start and finish the next chapter. I was debating whether or not I should have cut this in half and make it into two chapters, but I decided to leave it as it is. Also, as for why everyone are teenagers in this as opposed to twelve, well, I find it rather idiotic for a village to send kids out on missions meant for ninjas. I know they usually perform D-ranked missions for a year before actually leaving the village, but thirteen is still hardly an appropriate age for someone to be placed in a situation where they have to kill or be killed. That, and it's weird shipping twelve-thirteen year old kids… just… no. anyway, I'll be working on the almost finished third chapter of True Monsters and starting the next chapter of this… I may need a Beta Reader seeing as I'm kind of shitty at this. Thanks for reading.


	3. Chapter 3

Getting into the Hokage's library seemed like a nearly impossible task to perform, especially for someone like Naruto who preferred to wade into the thick of combat with claws swinging. The security alone would be toilsome to slip around, if that was at all possible. After all, the Hokage had three personal ANBU members watching out for him in the shadows at all times, and any one of them could spot Naruto easily. The rest of the building had at least fifteen Chunin or Jonin, he couldn't tell since both groups wore the same damn jackets, and a receptionist who could be a trained ninja out of uniform. He actually had to survey the building more than thrice in order to count how many people were inside and figure out their basic routs, and after taking a forth check, he determined that the Hokage was not inside. This meant he wouldn't have to deal with the three ANBU unless there were some inside he couldn't see, which was very likely going to be the case.

All in all, it seemed this extra assignment had been set up to really challenge his ability to remain silent, and Naruto couldn't help feeling the familiar and addictive sensation of his heartbeat racing and his adrenal glands going mad within him. This is what he lived for. Without another thought, and wanting the feeling to last, he leapt from the surrounding walls of the complex into the open third story window closest to where he needed to be. He landed on his hands, so as to keep his entrance as silent as possible, and slowly lowered his legs onto the ground. The room he had entered was no longer in use at the moment and had its door closed and lights off, not that that would serve a problem for his eyes. From what he could tell, it was a storage area with walls lines with large filing cabinets, with only a single small table and chair which were likely used to review specific papers.

Naruto knew he had to be quick about this, as Mizuki said he had an hour to enter and exit the building, and he had spent forty minutes surveying the area. He pressed his ear to the door, closing his eyes and listening for any footsteps. _'Three people,'_ he thought. _'One walking this way, the other two have stopped nine to ten meters away from here… perhaps into another room?'_ He waited for the single person to pass by the door before attempting to open it. Unfortunately, that one person was standing in front of the door where Naruto crouched in front of. He swiveled one hundred and eighty degrees and pressed his back to the wall next to the door just as he heard a dreadful 'click' from the handle. The door lazily swung open and the lights turned on, causing Naruto to squint as his eyes adjusted to the sudden light. The person who had entered the room remained hidden by the door; however, Naruto could hear the horrid sound of scraping metal as one of the file cabinets was pried open and rifled through.

The teen stood stalk still, heart thumping so hard from the fear that he could feel the blood pumping through his jugular. And yet, despite this tense situation of possible failure and sudden discovery he had found himself in, he had the widest grin on his face. Mizuki had said the assignment would be difficult, but he never said it would be this fun! Were he not in a situation that demanded stealth and subtly, Naruto would have loved nothing more than to let a howl out. But he would remain quiet and refrain from such elating things until he was well away from the tower when he could scream in delight. For now, he had a troublesome intruder to deal with; an intruder who was still flipping through the papers of a cabinet.

Eventually, there was another metal scraping, followed by the lights going out and the door swinging shut. Naruto waited until the person had been out of his hearing before he tried to leave once more. He pressed against the door as he turned the knob so he would keep it from making a 'click' before opening. Once he could move it, he swung the door open to let just a sliver of hall light enter the room and pressed his nose to the slit of light and gave a sniff. _'Those two people down the hall are gone… there's someone in the room across this one.'_ He brought his eye to the light to see if said person's door was open or closed. Closed. He kept the sigh of relief he wanted to make for later, he wasn't clear yet. He wasn't even started.

Once secure in knowing he was clear to move, Naruto opened the door far enough for him to squeeze through and closed it behind him. He didn't bother hiding the sound of his footsteps, seeing as the building had plenty of people in it and anyone hearing him walk would likely assume it to be one of the Chunin and or Jonin walking around. That didn't mean he would go about this casually. Any ninja walking down the hall would have an easy time finding him, since the hall itself was far too well lit for him to go silently through the shadows. No, he'd take things slow and steady with his unmasked footfalls, even if the library was only four doors down.

It was on that note that Naruto suddenly heard the door behind him make a 'click.' He had moved too far away from the filing room to get back in time, and dodging into one of the other rooms was taking a gamble that their doors were unlocked. Sometimes he could react well in situations like this. He had moments when his quick thinking would kick in and he'd come up with something clever that could help him. This was not one of those times.

Naruto bolted down the hall with as much strength and force as his legs would grant him. If he could just reach the library door, he could break it down and grab the scroll. Sure, it would take marks off his use of stealth, but he'd rather pass the assignment than attempt getting one hundred percent and failing because he was spotted during his first ten minutes in the building. That, and he didn't want to be laughed at by Kiba for screwing something like this up so badly if he was caught. He had managed to get a good meter of distance before tripping on a nail head poking out of the floor and landing on the ground with a painful 'thump!' _'God dammit legs, you're useless!'_ He cursed himself. He turned his head to see the door was almost opened, and once again, he panicked to think of something.

It wasn't a cleaver or even a half brained plan so much as it was him acting on the barest form of instinct and hoping against hope that it would work. Even calling it instinct suggested a semblance of forethought; this was not thought out well, however. Naruto pushed himself from the ground with a great deal of strength, not to get back onto his feet, but to launch him high into the air where his back touched the ceiling. As soon as he felt the hardwood roof make contact with his armor, he focused the right Chakra into his hands and let his claws out. The process was quick and painful for him, as his normal fingernails were torn off to be replaced by a set of black wolfish claws, a sensation much like having bamboo shoved underneath his nails. Without a second thought, he jammed his fingers into the roof, claws locking him in place. The act of keeping his entire body held up by his fingers was obviously was a strenuous and harrowing task; especially when his lower body was acting like a crowbar and pulling him downwards the more he kept it pressed to the roof.

He could feel some bones cracking in his hands as he waited for whoever was coming down the hall to pass, but they had yet to come into sight. _'Hurry up, you shithead!'_ he mentally screamed. The pain of holding himself there was becoming excruciating. _'Gah! Why the hell did I think this was a good idea?!'_ He _finally_ heard the sound of footsteps approaching, which got his heart rate up again as he waited and hoped to remain unseen by the intruder. 'Crack, pop,' went his left thumb and index finger, forcing him to bite his lip to the point of bleeding. _'Fucking hurry you ass!'_

Finally, _finally_ the person came into view. It was, surprisingly, one of the secretaries he had spotted from his surveillance of the building. The man, for whatever reason, was carrying a small mountain of boxes that went height enough that they very nearly touched Naruto's chest. He was mumbling something more than loud enough for Naruto to hear without his keen senses, but the words were just background noise to the agonizing 'pop, crack,' of his hands and fingers. By the time the secretary was beyond the teen's sight, Naruto had lost the use of every finger except his left ring finger, both pinkies, and his left thumb. He didn't bother waiting for the other man to be well out of earshot to get moving, he just let go and immediately regretted it as he felt several claws ripping out, making him bite an entire chunk out of his bottom lip, which of course, bled all over his new armor. _'Fuck!'_ he wanted to scream and curse at the secretary for being such an inconsiderate bastard, but all that came to mind was, _'You wanted this assignment.'_

He looked down at his twisted up fingers and held back another curse. _'It'll take a while for them to fix,'_ he thought, continuing his careful trek down the hall. _'I may need to sit and wait before I actually grab the scroll. Last thing I need is to drop it because my fingers couldn't hold on. That door better be fucking unlocked, or I'll just kick the damn thing down.'_

Naruto eventually reached the door to the library, and as he had predicted, it had a lock. "You son of a…" He sighed and grabbed the knob with his less busted up hand. "Alright, you want to play it hard, let's play it hard." Naruto squeezed the door knob with all his strength and violently twisted it to the right, breaking it off and making the door slowly swing open. He winced when he felt another 'pop,' from his right thumb as it came out of its socket. "I hate you hands," he whispered bitterly.

The library was just as he had imagined it. There was nothing but shelves, books, and scrolls; as well as a closed window which would thankfully be his exit. Finding the Scroll of Seals hadn't been any kind of challenge. He assumed it was the scroll the size of a child resting atop a pedestal with a plaque that claimed it to be the Scroll of Seals. _'Did a student trying this assignment get the wrong scroll last year?'_ With the objective of his assignment within his grasp, Naruto opted to sit back for a minute to let his fingers fix themselves before attempting to pick the obviously heavy and awkward to hold onto roll of paper and wood. His bottom lip had returned long ago, thankfully, as he would be lost without his ability to properly swear at others without it, now he just need his hands back.

With his spare five minutes, Naruto sat back in a folded up chair he managed to dig out of a corner and observed his body fix itself. The process in which his bones, flesh, muscle tissue, cartilage, and/or organs repair themselves was something of an odd fascination for him. According to his mentors, the healing that occurred while he was in the form of a human was faster than that of most Werewolves. He put it off as the Fox trying to keep him alive, and despite his disinterest in getting involved with it, the way it fixed things was an interesting sight to behold. Cuts and any open wounds would burn and seal up with an orange glow about them and release steam from the heat, but broken and dislodged bones would react in a way like they were being forced and welded together; which was incredibly uncomfortable for the body, but an interesting sight to behold none the less. It sort of felt like invisible hands were pushing every broken bone back together again like a puzzle, no matter how complex the injury. And once the light orange glow that radiated beneath his skin died down, he knew he would be ready to go.

With his hands fixed, he made a fist a few times, as this sort of healing often left him feeling a bit stiff. Once he was certain his hands were back to working condition, Naruto approached his target. He was about to lift it from the pedestal and cushion from where it lay, but halted when he realized just how easy this was. Ok, so keeping himself hidden in the filing room and hall had been a challenge in and of itself; but the latter was only difficult because he had done something monumentally stupid and physically straining in order to remain hidden. Had that secretary never posed a problem and the filing room remained silent throughout the endeavor, Naruto would have only needed to unlock the library door, grab the scroll, and leave. No, he wouldn't treat this situation as just a simple task of grab and go, even if he had less than three minutes to get out.

Naruto looked around the area of the scroll and pedestal for any traps and trip wires. From what he observed, it was just a marble pedestal, satin pillow, and scroll. A scroll that just happened to have been written by the first Hokage and filled with Jutsu meant for advanced students of the Academe. _'Maybe it just _is_ that easy,'_ he thought, placing his hands on both sides of the scroll._ 'Maybe I can just…'_ 'Snap!'

"Shit," he whispered. There _was_ a trap, a trip wire so small and thin he hadn't noticed it was going from the scroll to a loose wooden panel in the floor. Upon removing the wooden board, Naruto found a torn slip of paper with the kanji for 'keiteki,' written on it in ink. That meant he had either summoned a formidable foe, or he just tripped the alarm. The latter was more likely the case. Already, he could hear the footsteps of several people heading towards the library. "Dammit, I'm going to lose marks for this, but…" since stealth had gone out the window, Naruto decided he might as well follow it. He tucked the scroll under his arm and wasted no time trying to open the window and instead ran through it. Glass scattered everywhere as he sailed across the gap between the building and the wall that surrounded it, a good amount digging into his exposed flesh and regretfully open mouth. Still, the adrenalin rush from this made it more than worth the pain.

He eventually landed on the wall, where he could see several ninja running into the library and heading for the window. Naruto wouldn't give them the time to see him as he made the 'ram' seal and seemingly vanished in a swirl of wind. Far in the distance, when he was well out of sight, he let out the howl that had been building in his chest ever since he started this.

Naruto's dojo…

Naruto reappeared in front of his dojo, where an impatient Kiba waited for him. "This place is a fucking dump," Kiba said as he walked off the steps of the dojo.

"Yeah," Naruto smiled and dropped the scroll, making it roll out a few feet. "I've been meaning to fix that." He looked around for the little puppy the other teen had with him before, spotting him taking a piss on the rock on his lawn. He shrugged and looked back at Kiba. It wasn't like the dog was making the place any dirtier.

Kiba looked at the other teen, and then to the scroll splayed out on the ground. "So… I'm guessing that's the reason you're late? 'Cause, you know, I've been sitting in this shit hole for a half hour and I think my sense of smell has been permanently ruined."

"Hm?" Naruto looked down at the paper that lay rolled out next to him and shrugged. "I just got this from the Hokage residence itself, that's all." He hadn't realized it until now, but after what happened during the assignment, it felt good to brag, he even felt the corners of his mouth lift up into a grin. "Pretty cool, huh? It's part of a special extra assignment for Mizuki-sensei. He said I needed to be able to sneak into the Hokage residence and take the scroll without being seen. He's even gonna give me some time to learn a Jutsu from here, I figured I'd share it with you. Maybe it'll make our match a bit more interesting if you knew an A or S ranked Jutsu, instead of that kiddy shit they teach at the Academe." Naruto kneeled down and pressed his finger on the first thing he saw. "There's an entry on something called a "Kage Bunshin" that seems promising, take a look."

"A or S-rank?" Kiba approached the scroll and kneeled down, rolling it out further to read more. "Hell, I've never heard of this kind of assignment before, but if it'll land me and Akamaru some extra punch, we're in." he began looking through the numerous outlined Jutsu, most of which seemed a bit too complex or dangerous to attempt. "Which one are you taking?"

"I like the sound of the Shadow Clone Jutsu. It says here, "Let your Chakra wash over you. Let it flow through your body, but unlike regular Bunshin, don't attempt the Jutsu as soon as your chakra has spread out. Rather, once it has reached out, bring it in to match your form? If done right, the user will be able to split their Chakra evenly to however many clones they create, and the Clones should be capable of performing Jutsu of their own." Not a very solid way of putting it, but it sounds perfect for me… I'll give it a try. You found anything yet?"

"Exploding Fist Technique," Kiba read off, cringing as he read the repercussions for failing the Jutsu described. "Too easy to die from. Bone Shatter Technique, has the chance to liquefy my skeleton if not done exactly right. You sure we should be trying these? They all have warnings about death and or horrible mutilation to the body."

Naruto waved his friend off as he stepped back to try the Kage Bunshin. "You just gotta find the right one for you. Alright, here goes nothing." He placed his hand in the 'Ram' seal and copied what the text said. First, he let his Chakra flow freely, which was simple enough for him. Next, he brought it in, compacting it to keep it from leaking out of his body, and said, "**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**" A large puff of smoke came from his body, a feeling he didn't entirely find pleasant, which was eventually carried away by the wind. When he could finally see, Naruto found himself surrounded by dozens of identical versions of him. "Whoa!" They all shouted in unison, which caused Kiba to jump and turn around.

"Holy shit!" he shouted. "I've never seen _that_ many clones before!" he stood up and approached one of the many Narutos littering the field and poked it in the chest. "They're even solid! How do you feel? Splitting your entire Chakra pool that many times had to _hurt_!"

"Not really," Naruto shrugged. "You could say I've got a lot to spare. Alright," he stepped up next to Kiba and turned to address his clones. "You can dispel now, I'm gonna try and see if there's one more Jutsu I can get before Mizuki gets here." They all nodded and made the 'Ram' seal with their hands before disappearing in several puffs of smoke. Once the area was clear, Naruto returned his gaze to Kiba and smiled. "Pretty cool huh? Did you find anything on there that suited you?"

Kiba nodded and pointed at the scroll with his thumb. "Yeah, I found something that'll work with Akamaru and I, but I'm gonna wait until I'm a bit stronger to try it out."

"Really? Why?"

"Well," Kiba's face took on a deep grimace as he recalled the exact words from the text. "If I fuck it up just a little, I'll end up killing Akamaru and leave me crippled, so… yeah." Akamaru barked in agreement and hopped up onto his master's head.

"Suit yourself," Naruto walked towards the scroll and kneeled down to pick it up. "Guess I'll just…" he stopped what he was saying when a pair of all too familiar two toned shoes came into his peripheral vision. He looked up, even though he knew who it already was. He was met by the usually calm and collected Victor; only his face no longer held its neutral expression. Instead, the other Werewolf was glaring into Naruto so hard, he half expected Victor was attempting to make his head explode with his mind. "Uhh… hi."

Victor reached down and picked the teen up by the back of his neck, his grown out claws digging quite painfully into Naruto's flesh. "You," he hissed his words out like a snake. "What… why…" he looked like he was having the hardest time choosing his words, something Naruto found happened very little with Victor. "I've been gone for less than twenty four hours, and you managed to steal the Scroll of Seals!" it seemed he had found his voice. Unfortunately for the teen, it was an enraged one. "And not just steal it, you stole it from _Hokage-sama's residence_!?"

Naruto wanted to smile and say something like, "Yeah, impressed?" but apparently he had messed up somewhere, and his only reply was a pitiful whimper.

"Naruto… why!?"

"B…because I was told this was an assignment from one of my teachers!" he protested, finally finding his voice.

That seemed to snap Victor out of his anger, though he still kept a tight grip on the teen. "What?"

Just then, Victor took an involuntary step forward as a large metal object came out of seemingly nowhere and cut his head clean off and sent it rolling under the porch. Naruto looked on in shock and horror as he realized who had thrown the object. Up on top of the boulder that sat in the yard, Mizuki stood, a massive shuriken slung over his back and a malicious grin plastered on his face. "Good of you to retrieve the scroll, Naruto-san," he said. He hopped off the bolder and looked down at the unrolled parchment, a look of disgust replacing his confidant smirk. "I see you _and_ the Inuzuka decided to read through the scroll." He kicked it over to roll it up and followed it. "I told you this had to be done with no witnesses, Naruto, but you just had to screw up and get seen by several Jonin, didn't you?"

Naruto, who long before his teacher started talking had been dropped by his decapitated father figure, stood stock still with a mixture of shock and confusion on his features. "Why?" he asked. No other words could come to mind despite his training in situations _just_ like this. Rogue ninja, he had spent a week at the most learning what to do in times like this. If he could run, he was advised to. Heroics meant nothing if he wound up dead because he tried to take on a ninja with a higher rank than him. If he could take the ninja on, he was to still run, and only subdue them and attempt interrogating them before turning them in if there was no other choice, and only if he had a very good chance of beating them. He thought when the day came that he was betrayed by another ninja, he'd be ready. But there he stood, wordless and surprise from something that came right out of left field for him.

Mizuki on the other hand had managed to keep his air of confidence mixed with slight annoyance as he picked the large scroll and slung it over his back, taking out his last massive shuriken and idly spinning it in his arm. "You know," he walked back to lean against the rock as he spoke. "When I heard about these monsters called Werewolves, I'll admit, I was a bit scared. I mean, who wouldn't be? Bigger than a man, stronger than a mountain, and as ferocious as a wolf. Who wouldn't think they were frightening? Then I heard they wanted to live in peace with us…" He paused to let a small chuckle out. "That's sort of funny, that they'd think they could live with us." He looked at the headless corpse of Victor and let his sickening grin return. "I heard they couldn't be killed, but I guess that was just more lies that the Hokage fed us."

"Why?" It was all he could keep asking, all that came to mind. Everything else, sound, sight, taste, and touch went numb. Victor had just been killed. What was he supposed to feel, to do or say? The only thing that he could blurt out was, "Why?!"

Mizuki turned his head to Naruto and laughed. It wasn't a soft chuckle either; rather, it was an almost psychotic bellow that made both Naruto and Kiba back away from the disturbed man. "You… you really are that stupid, aren't you?" he pushed off from the rock and approached the boys, shuriken spinning faster in his hand. "I lied, you idiot. There is no "extra assignment." I just needed an idiot the village could blame for stealing the Scroll of Seals while I got away." He looked at Kiba, and his grin finally faded to an annoyed scowl. "But you just _had_ to involve the Inuzuka brat, didn't you? Had to make things difficult for me by bringing that stupid monster here." Mizuki leapt back onto the bolder, stopping the shuriken from spinning and held it back, ready to throw. "I wonder if the Inuzuka dog bleeds like the rest of us?" he leaned forward and hurled the shuriken towards Kiba.

Said teen was about to try and dodge the oncoming weapon, even if he was laying on the ground after seeing someone _decapitated_, but stopped when a blond barricade in brown armor leapt in front of him. There was a loud 'shunk!' heard as the shuriken went through Naruto's back and came out the right side of his chest, splattering blood all over the ground and the Inuzuka. Kiba looked on wide eyed as more and more blood seeped from his friend's wound as Naruto hunched over. "U…Uzumaki?" he couldn't quite grasp what had happened. One minute he was trying to avoid death, the next minute his friend was kneeling on the ground with a giant shuriken sticking out of his back. He reached out to grab the other teen's shoulders, but halted when Naruto's head came up, eyes changed from light blue to a deep yellow with rhombus shaped pupils.

Naruto opened his mouth, an act that let quite a bit of blood dribble out, showing a set of elongated canines. **"Run,"** he commanded, his voice deep and gruff. **"Find someone… bring them here. Get help Kiba."** The other teen refused to move and remained staring at Naruto with an expression of terror. **"I said. RUN!"** This time, Kiba complied and stood to run.

"What the…" Mizuki jumped off his spot on the rock and began heading after the Inuzuka boy, taking out a set of Kunai. "No you don't!" he tried to toss one of his weapons at the teen, but his projectile ended up falling uselessly to the ground as something caught him by the ankle and caused him to trip over and the scroll to fall off his back. He assumed it had been the body of Naruto which caused him to lose his footing, even though he was sure he avoided it during his chase; however, upon looking at his still caught ankle, he realized his assumption to be frightfully incorrect. For it was not the same blond haired teen whom he had fooled that tripped him, but what appeared to be a yellow furred beast with a snout of dripping fangs and the eyes of a hungry and ravenous animal that stared back at him intensely. "W-what the…"

"**I don't like being lied to, Mizuki-sensei,"** Naruto growled. He yanked on the teacher's leg, dragging him a few feet closer. **"And I especially don't like traitors."** His grip on the ankle tightened until he could hear a soft 'crack' that made Mizuki's eyes widen in pain.

"What… what the hell. I just… how are you…?"

"**What, this?"** Naruto used his free hand to wrench the weapon from his back and tossed it aside. **"I've had worse."** The split hole in his chest let off a bright orange and yellow glow as it forced itself closed, flesh weaving back together to leave a visible scar which soon became covered in his repairing armor. Naruto gave another tug on the leg, bringing Mizuki underneath him where he could meet his eyes closer. The look of fear he saw in the teacher was something he normally took little joy in making others feel, but he'd make this one exception to revel in it.

Mizuki reared his other Kunai back. "You… you fucking monster!" he shouted as he brought his weapon down. The knife hit home, right through the top of the skull with a sickening, 'splack!' The tight hold around his ankle loosened more than enough for him to wrench it free and stagger to his knees, nursing his fractured leg. His grip on the handle of the blade tightened, and with a grotesque, 'squelch,' he dislodged the knife from Naruto's skull and brought it up over his head to strike again. He placed a lot more strength into his blows as he brought the knife down over and over again, each stab opening the teen's skull and tearing bits of grey matter out. "You. Little. Shit!" he screamed with each blow. "How dare you. Lay your filthy. Fucking monster hands. On me!" he raised his hand again, but was stopped as Naruto's furry mitt grabbed him by the wrist. The grip wasn't very tight, though Mizuki had to struggle quite a bit to free himself.

Naruto managed to prop himself up with his other arm, though the damage to his brain made it exceedingly difficult to keep his balance. His sight was blurred to an incoherent mesh of colors and shapes, part of which were blacked out. **"Glerbtebeck,"** he gurgled. Ok, so it wasn't the most fear instilling thing to have said, but at least he had the ability to speak. He couldn't form actual words, but he could say _something_. Unfortunately, his grasp on Mizuki had been gone for an unknown amount of time, it could have been anywhere between an hour to a minute, and his enemy had gotten away from him. From what he could tell, there was a moving blob in the corner (or was it the bottom?) of his eyes. **"Cafffft rnnnn."** Again, not really words, but something.

In truth, Mizuki _had_ broken free from Naruto; however, his attempts to run off were delayed by the fracture in his ankle. The teen had apparently done more damage than he had originally thought, as any effort he made to place even a bit of weight on the affected area sent rivets of pain up his leg. He looked back at said teen and thanked Kami he was still gurgling out nonsensical words while trying, and failing, to remain upright. All Mizuki needed was a workable splint, something to ease the pain so he could use his injured leg to aid in his escape. He'd only need to do a simple Shunshin and he'd be gone, a mile away in less than an hour. He just needed some sturdy wood, and unfortunately for him, all the trees around him were burnt.

Back with Naruto, his sense of smell had finally returned, albeit jumbled and confused. From what his nose told him, the entire area was burning, and a sack of sugar and chalk dust had been poured everywhere and then mixed with vinegar. Oh well, baby steps. It had been a long time since he had taken damage to the head. Or was it? Something certainly happened before that involved brain damage. His natural regeneration and the Kyuubi's Chakra could only do so much when it came to delicate parts of the body. It took only one incorrectly connected sulcus to do serious damage to his mind, so the process of putting the brain back together was a very delicate one. If he was missing a few pieces, he could only hope the Kyuubi could fill in the blanks properly. **"Caaaannnnnn't. Ruuuunnnnnnn."** Finally, actual words! It was a task and a half to spew them out in the right way, but it was progress. Speaking of which, his sight had _finally_ stopped its incessant swirling about and had come to a nice, clear image of his filthy yard, where Mizuki was nowhere around.

"Ah, here we go," Mizuki said as he came across a tree with branches strong enough to use for a splint that didn't immediately turn to ash upon contact. It had taken him a few minutes, but it was worth it for the wood. He sat against the burnt trunk and took out some spare wire to tie the wood to his ankle. It takes only a few tight knots that make the sharp wire dig into the wood and hold it steady, and his splint is ready. With his leg looked after, he had only one last thing to worry about before running off, the scroll. He could see it just where he had left it, though when he noticed Naruto was nowhere to be seen, his mind panicked. _'Dammit, where the hell is that thing?'_ There was a blood trail that streaked a few yards from where Naruto had been when he tore into his skull that ended near the large rock Mizuki had stood upon before. _'I just need to grab the scroll and run. Werewolf or not, there's no way he can keep up with me with his wounds.'_ He approached his target slowly, senses on high alert for any sudden movements or sounds. Each step made him wince, not just from the pain it caused his leg, but the ground had a lot of trash on it which would make a crinkling sound whenever he stepped on it. _'Just a bit closer. God dammit, where _is_ he?'_ He tightened his grip on the bloody Kunai in his hand as he reached down to pick the scroll up.

He retracted his hand immediately when a familiar furry arm ripped its way out of the earth and took a hold of his wrist, bringing with it Naruto with his head intact. **"Mizuki!"** he roared, pulling on the man's arm to bring him closer.

Mizuki reacted just as he did before, hand reared up with blade at the ready. He swung his hand down and landed another blow to Naruto's head. "Don't touch me yo-*cough* wha?" he stopped talking as his lungs filled with smoke. He didn't have time to wonder what happened, since Naruto had released his grip on his wrist, which caused him to lose his footing and fall back. On his bad leg. A loud 'crack,' rang out, which he praised Kami for not being his leg but just his splint, as he fell over on the ground; however, as soon as his back met the dirt, another set of furry arms tore up to the surface and held him down by the arms and legs. One of the sets of fur dug its way out and walked up to the pinned down teacher, letting out a vicious snarl as it made its approach.

"**Do you know what Lycans do to traitors, Mizuki-**_**sensei?**_**"** Naruto asked, kneeling down next to the struggling man. He received no reply, only grunts of exertion and a fearful look. Naruto took a spare Kunai out from Mizuki's belt and spun it lazily in his fingers. **"We skin them alive and pin their hides to the front of our homes."** He stopped the kunai's spinning and placed it at the man's cheeks. **"I'm going to start cutting into you now. As I cut, I'll eventually start asking some questions. If I like the answers, I might stop, or I might remove a small limb. Either way, I'd suggest screaming."** Mizuki granted him that one request.

..

It was pretty easy for the ninja sent out to find Naruto's place to locate the area. Kiba's instructions helped, and all they had to do after that was follow the sound of screaming; though once they had actually gotten there, it had become silent. The Hokage himself had decided to join in on the search, though he never explained why to the others. When he arrived at the front yard, he and the ninja with him were met with an odd surprise. Naruto sat on his front porch covered in small and large blotches of blood, the Scroll of Seals next to him. He had on a friendly and welcoming smile as he stood and bowed low to the Hokage. "Hokage-sama," he spoke in a calm and formal tone. "I have the scroll and the real traitor here."

Sarutobi looked Naruto up and down with wide eyes. "Naruto… you're covered in blood."

The teen came up from his bow and let his grin widen. "Oh, don't worry, it's not _my_ blood."

"Where… where is Victor, I thought he went out looking for you?" This was becoming far too eerie for his liking. According to Kiba, Mizuki was to blame and had attempted to kill him and Naruto after _decapitating_ Victor. It was that tidbit that compelled him to join the search in the first place, as well as the fear that Mizuki would kill Naruto.

"I did indeed," said a voice from inside the dojo. Victor walked out the doorless doorway and gave Sarutobi a deep bow. "Hokage-sama, I give my sincerest apologies for not informing you where I was going earlier. It appears Naruto is not entirely to blame for the theft tonight; rather it was under the influence of Mizuki, an instructor at the academe, that Naruto acted so foolishly."

The Hokage looked around the area once more for the aforementioned instructor, but found him nowhere. "I see, and did Mizuki get away?"

Naruto shook his head and walked into his home, then came out with a hogtied and horrifically mutilated Mizuki slung over his shoulder. "No, I managed to detain and interrogate him before you arrived. After gaining all the information I could, I reattached Kokoro-sensei's head." He tossed the teacher off the steps of the dojo where he landed before the group of ninja.

Sarutobi had to wince a bit when he saw the man. Both his hands, along with his right arm up to his broken humerus, were missing, and the word "TRAITOR" was carved into his chest. "You… interrogated him?" the Hokage asked. He knew Naruto being raised by Lycans would make him have a tendency towards violence, but this was more than he had expected. It wasn't even what Mizuki looked like that frightened him, he'd seen more horrific and brutal forms of torture performed, but that Naruto would comfortably turn to this was more than concerning. "I need to see you and Victor in my office. Now." He managed to find his voice finally. He looked to the other ninja. "Take Mizuki to a holding cell, and get a medical-nin to look after him." The men and women nodded and carefully picked the sliced up teacher off the ground. Naruto, meanwhile, followed Sarutobi back to the Hokage residence.

..

Hokage Residence

..

Naruto and Victor stood before a very frustrated Sarutobi. He paced back and forth in front of his desk, trying to find the right words to start with that didn't come out too harsh. Then again, he figured harshness should be needed. "Explain," he said firmly to Naruto.

Said teen swallowed a lump he didn't know was in his throat when he was fixed with a powerful glare. "Right… um… well, Mizuki uh… he came to me after I passed my Genin Exams and… and told me that I could take an, "extra assignment," if I was willing. I uh… I felt the exam was too… too easy and said yes. He said I needed to sneak in here and take a large scroll called the Scroll of Seals and deliver it to him quietly. I told him that my house was out of the way and perfect for the drop off. After getting in and sneaking through the hall-"

"I saw the holes in the ceiling with some claws in them," Sarutobi interrupted. "I assume they were yours?"

Naruto nodded and laughed nervously. "Yeah… that sorta hurt a lot. Uh… anyway, after that, I triggered the alarm when I took the scroll and ran out."

"You smashed right through the window and showered glass over several yards."

"Right," he scratched the back of his head. He was starting to feel very small at this moment. "I went to my place where Kiba was waiting," he could see the Hokage was about to interject once more and quickly continued. "Because he and I were planning on having a sparring match there… which I forgot about during my escape. When I got to my place, I unrolled the scroll and-"

The Hokage face-palmed as he mumbled irritably, "You read from the scroll, didn't you." he received a reluctant nod and sighed. "Kiba too?" Another nod and another sigh from him, this just got better and better. "Which Jutsus did you read?"

"I don't know what Kiba read," Naruto backed up as he saw the angry look he received for that from Sarutobi _and_ Victor. "But I learned and used the Kage Bunshin Jutsu.

The mention of the Jutsu made both the Hokage and Victor stare wide eyed and shocked at the teen, the former speaking what they were both thinking. "You… how many did you make?"

"Um… twenty five… I think. I didn't really count them all before getting rid of them. Why?"

"Twenty five," Victor finally spoke up, although his tone suggested he was utterly taken aback by Naruto's claim. "You created twenty five Shadow Clones?" he received a confused nod and stepped back. _'I suppose it makes sense, as his condition would allow the use of such a Jutsu…'_ he straightened himself out and cleared his throat before continuing. "What happened after that?"

"Well," Naruto continued. "Then you showed up and scolded me. And then Mizuki… he cut your head off with his large shuriken."

"You were decapitated?" The Hokage asked, looking disbelievingly at Victor.

Said man showed his neck where a thin scar ran. "It was quite painful. Thankfully, my eyes were opened during my headless experience."

Sarutobi almost didn't want to ask, but curiosity was a powerful force. "What would have happened if your eyes were closed?"

"I would have been forced into a slumber that would end only when my head and body were reunited. The flow of time for the victim, however, varies randomly. A few minutes away from the body can be perceived as less than a second to decades. This can often drive the victim insane if they perceive it as a long period of time. If the body and head are not rejoined within five days of separation, the Werewolf will expire."

"It's news to me!" Naruto exclaimed. "I picked your head up ready to bury you when I saw your ff… eyes staring back at me! You have any idea how ffff… surprising that is?" He was doing everything he could not to swear in front of the Hokage, but found it exceedingly difficult. "I just about shhh… dropped your head!"

"We've told you decapitation is survivable so long as someone brings your head to your body," the older male replied.

"I didn't think you were serious!"

Sarutobi loudly cleared his throat to gain their attention. "I believe you have yet to finish, Narto," he said.

"Oh… uh, right. So… after that, Mizuki told me that he lied and that he planned on using me as a scapegoat while he got away with the scroll. He tried to attack Kiba, but I managed to intersect his projectile with my back."

"With your back?" Sarutobi asked cynically.

"Yeah," Naruto nodded and smiled. "It kind of hurt. A lot. After that, I told Kiba to run while I was turning. I also kept Mizuki from following him by tripping and holding him down for a while." He rubbed the top of his head and winced when he felt a painful spot where one of his stab wounds had been. "Then Mizuki stabbed me in the head… I don't know how many times. Everything went black while my body tried to repair itself. When I was once again functional, Mizuki had left and the scroll was still nearby. I figured he'd come back for it, so I used the Kage Bunshinto make five clones of myself and we each used my Shinju Zanshu Jutsu to hide underground and wait for him. When he returned, one of my clones performed a distraction while the other four pinned him down. Once I had him trapped, I decided to interrogate him."

"By torturing and mutilating him," Sarutobi cut in. "At what point did you deem it necessary to do this?"

Naruto returned to his nervous demeanor under the Hokage's harsh gaze, lowering his head in shame. "I'm sorry, to both you and Victor. I lost my temper when I realized Mizuki had tricked me into doing this that I… I wanted him to pay for betraying me and this village. I know what I did was wrong, and that it wasn't my job to interrogate him as I am only a Genin. But," he looked up, his shameful expression replaced with a more serious and urgent one. "I _did_ obtain vital information from him, if I may divulge it." He received a nod and continued. "After some _convincing_, Mizuki informed me that he had planned to bring the scroll to Orochimaru."

Sarutobi's eyes widened, then narrowed at that name. it had been well over a decade since he heard anything about his former student, despite the teams he had sent out to gather information that would later end up being dead ends. "Are you sure he said that name?" he asked sternly.

"Pale skin, long tongue, and uses curse seals delivered through a bite," Naruto replied. "Orochimaru apparently _gave_ him a curse seal on his right arm, so I removed it." He could see the quizzical look Sarutobi had about that, so he reached into one of his pockets and held out a square slice of flesh with a strange tattoo on it.

"Where's the rest of his arm?" the Hokage asked, though he had an inkling as to what the answer was going to be.

"I stored it away for later consumption. Since I haven't eaten today and have no money until I'm of age to claim my father's bank account."

Yeah, that was what he thought. Sarutobi sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did you get anything else from him? Does he know where Orochimaru currently is?"

Naruto shook his head and placed the skin back in his pocket. "Unfortunately, he doesn't know where he is. He told me he was instructed to seek him out after putting a list of ingredients together at one of Orochimaru's hidden labs." He reached into another pocket and produced a slip of white paper which he handed to the Hokage. "Apparently, he had the ingredients ready and hidden nearby which he planned to use at the lab. I made sure to destroy the ingredients before you arrived, and tied him up. The paper has the list, as well as how to use the items specified and the location of the lab. I was sadly unable to get anything else from him since he passed out."

Sarutobi read the paper over. From what he could tell, the desired elixir would boost the consumer's power, most of the ingredients were lethal to consume alone, which suggested the dangers the potion held. "Thank you, Naruto." He knew he shouldn't be thanking the boy for what he had done, but his need to find his former student outweighed his need to scold at the moment. "But," That didn't mean he was going to refrain from giving a punishment. "You still acted recklessly, damaged public property, _stole_ a valuable and dangerous Jutsu, and endangered the life of a village Clan member. Not to mention your recklessness in harming Mizuki, enemy or not. I can't simply let such things go, and you _will_ receive punishment. However," he relaxed a bit as he pocketed the paper and moved to sit at his desk. "You aided, albeit unknowingly, in revealing a traitor in our ranks and protected fellow Shinobi from harm, even at the risk of dying at a ninja of higher rank and skill than you. Because of this, I will not revoke your status as a ninja outright like I normally would in these circumstances." The Hokage relaxed in his seat and took his pipe out from its drawer. He _really_ needed the nicotine at this time. "First, you'll need to pay the two thousand Ryo needed to repair the door to the library, the library window, and the ceiling."

Naruto bowed low and said, "I understand, Hokage-sama."

The Hokage lit his pipe and took in a long drag. "I'm not finished," he said, smoke coming out with each word. "Next, you will need to perform a total of ten D-Ranked missions on your own, and you will receive no pay for this. Consider it community service. Oh, and you are not permitted to use your Shadow Clones, or any other Jutsu for that matter in order to make your tasks easier. These D-Rank missions will have to take place after you've had time to train and or work with your Genin team during your free time. Do you understand?"

Another bow and another, "I understand, Hokage-sama."

"Does this seem fair to you, Victor?"

"It's not my descision to make, Hokage-sama," he replied.

"Very well, Naruto, you may head home for now." The teen nodded and vanished in a swirl of wind, leaving the Hokage and Victor alone. "So," Sarutobi said, looking at Victor with a curious tone. "You lost your head?"

"I got better," Victor replied.

Not really a great place to leave off in my opinion, but it was all that I could come up with. I also hated how the pacing turned out here, but reading it over, I couldn't really think of any way to fix it without making what I'd put in be padding, and I didn't want that. On a more frustrating note, I had to watch the Mizuki Strikes Back Arc again to make sure I had the details of where the curse seal was and what information Orochimaru gave Mizuki were correct, and let me tell you, the anime has not aged particularly well, or at least the filler hasn't. If you spot anything wrong in this chapter, or any others, don't hesitate to point it out. Other than that, hope you enjoy this chapter and look forward to the next. I also hope I'm doing ok so far. Anyway, see you next time.


End file.
